Experimental Determination of Irreversible Entropy Production in out-of-Equilibrium Mesoscopic Quantum Systems
Journal article, 2018
By making use of a recently proposed framework for the inference of thermodynamic irreversibility in bosonic quantum systems, we experimentally measure and characterize the entropy production rates in the nonequilibrium steady state of two different physical systems a micromechanical resonator and a Bose-Einstein condensate each coupled to a high finesse cavity and hence also subject to optical loss. Key features of our setups, such as the cooling of the mechanical resonator and signatures of a structural quantum phase transition in the condensate, are reflected in the entropy production rates. Our work demonstrates the possibility to explore irreversibility in driven mesoscopic quantum systems and paves the way to a systematic experimental assessment of entropy production beyond the microscopic limit.
Micromechanical resonators
Superconducting materials
Bose-Einstein condensation
Phase transitions
Statistical mechanics
Quantum optics
Author
M. Brunelli
University of Cambridge
L. Fusco
Queen's University Belfast
R. Landig
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETH)
Harvard University
Witlef Wieczorek
Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Quantum Technology
Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2)
J. Hoelscher-Obermaier
University of Vienna
University of Hanover
C. Landi
University of Sao Paulo (USP)
F. L. Semiao
Universidade Federal do ABC
A. Ferraro
Queen's University Belfast
N. Kiesel
University of Vienna
T. Donner
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETH)
G. De Chiara
Queen's University Belfast
M. Paternostro
Queen's University Belfast
Physical Review Letters
0031-9007 (ISSN) 1079-7114 (eISSN)
Vol. 121 16 160604Areas of Advance
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (SO 2010-2017, EI 2018-)
Subject Categories
Other Physics Topics
Condensed Matter Physics
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.160604
PubMed
30387649