Heat as a witness of quantum properties

A. de Oliveira Junior, Jonatan Bohr Brask, Patryk Lipka-Bartosik

Published 2024-08-12Version 1

We present a new approach for witnessing quantum resources, including entanglement and coherence, based on heat generation. Inspired by the concept of Maxwell's demon, we analyze the heat exchange between a quantum system and a thermal environment assisted by a quantum memory. By exploring the fundamental limitations of heat transfer in this scenario, we find that quantum states can reveal their non-classical signatures via energy exchange with a thermal environment. This approach offers a promising alternative to complex, system-specific measurements, as it relies solely on fixed energy measurements. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our method, we apply it to the detection of entanglement in isotropic states and coherence in a two-spin system interacting with a single-mode electromagnetic field.