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Thermodynamics in the Quantum Regime

Fundamental Aspects and New Directions

  • Presents the most up-to-date and comprehensive review of this fast-growing field
  • Suitable for use by researchers but also accessible to interested students at the graduate level as well as quantum engineers in the private sector
  • Covers the most interesting open problems so as to inspire newcomers
  • Explores the most promising experimental platforms for applications to quantum technologies

Part of the book series: Fundamental Theories of Physics (FTPH, volume 195)

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Table of contents (41 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
  2. Introduction to Quantum Thermodynamics: History and Prospects

    • Robert Alicki, Ronnie Kosloff
    Pages 1-33
  3. Continuous and Discrete Quantum Heat Devices

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 35-35
    2. Thermodynamic Principles and Implementations of Quantum Machines

      • Arnab Ghosh, Wolfgang Niedenzu, Victor Mukherjee, Gershon Kurizki
      Pages 37-66
    3. Performance of Quantum Thermodynamic Cycles

      • Tova Feldmann, José P. Palao
      Pages 67-85
    4. Quantum Features and Signatures of Quantum Thermal Machines

      • Amikam Levy, David Gelbwaser-Klimovsky
      Pages 87-126
    5. Friction-Free Quantum Machines

      • Adolfo del Campo, Aurélia Chenu, Shujin Deng, Haibin Wu
      Pages 127-148
    6. Physical Implementations of Quantum Absorption Refrigerators

      • Mark T. Mitchison, Patrick P. Potts
      Pages 149-174
    7. Quantum Thermodynamics of Nanoscale Thermoelectrics and Electronic Devices

      • Robert S. Whitney, Rafael Sánchez, Janine Splettstoesser
      Pages 175-206
    8. Quantum Batteries

      • Francesco Campaioli, Felix A. Pollock, Sai Vinjanampathy
      Pages 207-225
    9. Quantum Rotor Engines

      • Stella Seah, Stefan Nimmrichter, Alexandre Roulet, Valerio Scarani
      Pages 227-245
  4. Fluctuating Work and Irreversibility in the Quantum Regime

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 247-247
    2. Quantum Fluctuation Theorems

      • Ken Funo, Masahito Ueda, Takahiro Sagawa
      Pages 249-273
    3. Fluctuating Work in Coherent Quantum Systems: Proposals and Limitations

      • Elisa Bäumer, Matteo Lostaglio, Martí Perarnau-Llobet, Rui Sampaio
      Pages 275-300
    4. The Coherent Crooks Equality

      • Zoe Holmes
      Pages 301-316
    5. The Role of Quantum Work Statistics in Many-Body Physics

      • John Goold, Francesco Plastina, Andrea Gambassi, Alessandro Silva
      Pages 317-336
    6. Ancilla-Assisted Measurement of Quantum Work

      • Gabriele De Chiara, Paolo Solinas, Federico Cerisola, Augusto J. Roncaglia
      Pages 337-362
    7. Work, Heat and Entropy Production Along Quantum Trajectories

      • Cyril Elouard, M. Hamed Mohammady
      Pages 363-393
    8. Characterizing Irreversibility in Open Quantum Systems

      • Tiago B. Batalhão, Stefano Gherardini, Jader P. Santos, Gabriel T. Landi, Mauro Paternostro
      Pages 395-410
  5. Equilibration and Thermalization

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 411-411

About this book

Quantum Thermodynamics is a novel research field which explores the emergence of thermodynamics from quantum theory and addresses thermodynamic phenomena which appear in finite-size, non-equilibrium and finite-time contexts. Blending together elements from open quantum systems, statistical mechanics, quantum many-body physics, and  quantum information theory, it pinpoints thermodynamic advantages and barriers emerging from genuinely quantum properties such as quantum coherence and correlations. Owing to recent experimental efforts, the field is moving quickly towards practical applications, such as nano-scale heat devices, or thermodynamically optimised protocols for emergent quantum technologies.

Starting from the basics, the present volume reviews some of the most recent developments, as well as some of the most important open problems in quantum thermodynamics. The self-contained chapters provide concise and topical introductions to researchers who are new to thefield. Experts will find them useful as a reference for the current state-of-the-art. In six sections the book covers topics such as quantum heat engines and refrigerators, fluctuation theorems, the emergence of thermodynamic equilibrium, thermodynamics of strongly coupled systems, as well as various information theoretic approaches including Landauer's principle and thermal operations. It concludes with a section dedicated to recent quantum thermodynamics experiments and experimental prospects on a variety of platforms ranging from cold atoms to photonic systems, and NV centres.

Editors and Affiliations

  • School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Felix Binder

  • School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Luis A. Correa, Gerardo Adesso

  • ICFO: Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Castelldefels, Spain

    Christian Gogolin

  • CEMPS, Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Janet Anders

About the editors

This book has been written by over 100 internationally recognized experts in this novel research field. They were invited by the editors based on their expertise. The editors are as follows:


Dr. Felix Binder is an expert on quantum information theoretic approaches to

thermodynamics and also studies quantum models for stochastic processes as well as
quantum correlations. He obtained his DPhil from the University of Oxford and currently
works as a research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.


Dr. Luis A. Correa is an expert on open quantum systems interested in the performance
optimisation of quantum thermodynamic cycles (e.g. nano-scale refrigerators and quantum
heat engines). He is also interested in quantum thermometry, or the precise measurement
of ultra-cold temperatures with nano-scale spatialresolution.


Dr. Christian Gogolin is an expert on equilibration and thermalization in closed quantum
systems and has worked on a broad range of topics in quantum many-body and
condensed matter theory, quantum information theory, statistical mechanics, foundations of
quantum mechanics, and several others.


Dr. Janet Anders is an expert in the characterisation of work in the quantum regime and
thermodynamic experiments at the microscale. She has worked on topics in quantum
information theory and quantum thermodynamics, including quantum computation,
entanglement in quantum many-body systems, thermodynamics in the strong coupling
limit, and non-equilibrium dynamics of levitated nanospheres.


Prof. Gerardo Adesso is an expert on quantum information theory and the characterisation
of nonclassical correlations in open quantum systems, including their mathematical
description and their practical applications to quantum technologies such as cooling,
thermometry, optical communication, sensing and metrology.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Thermodynamics in the Quantum Regime

  • Book Subtitle: Fundamental Aspects and New Directions

  • Editors: Felix Binder, Luis A. Correa, Christian Gogolin, Janet Anders, Gerardo Adesso

  • Series Title: Fundamental Theories of Physics

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99046-0

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-99045-3Published: 11 April 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-99046-0Published: 01 April 2019

  • Series ISSN: 0168-1222

  • Series E-ISSN: 2365-6425

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 998

  • Number of Illustrations: 435 b/w illustrations, 189 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Quantum Physics, Thermodynamics, Statistical Physics and Dynamical Systems

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access