Finite-Particle Quantum Reduction of Thermodynamic Irreversibility
Abstract
Thermodynamics is useful because it lets us predict and control complex systems from a few accessible quantities when microscopic reconstruction is impractical. We ask whether this operational reduction can be less costly in a finite quantum system than in a matched classical one. We compare a few-boson Bose--Hubbard chain with its number-conserving classical-field counterpart under the same driving and the same coarse spatial record. The quantum system relaxes more in the observed particle distribution, yet the retained mean energy resolves more of the microscopic structure hidden by that record, leaving less information unusable and smaller entropy generation. We then close the process into a heat-engine cycle whose controls use only the measured mean energy and spatial record, not full state tomography; at matched thermal resources, the smaller entropy generation gives more work and higher efficiency. The advantage fades as the particle number grows toward the classical-field regime.
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BibTeX
@misc{ahmadi2026finiteparticle,
title = {{Finite-Particle Quantum Reduction of Thermodynamic Irreversibility}},
author = {Borhan Ahmadi},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.10211},
eprint = {2609.10211},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.10211},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Finite-Particle Quantum Reduction of Thermodynamic Irreversibility
AU - Borhan Ahmadi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/09
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.10211
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.10211
AB - Thermodynamics is useful because it lets us predict and control complex systems from a few accessible quantities when microscopic reconstruction is impractical. We ask whether this operational reduction can be less costly in a finite quantum system than in a matched classical one. We compare a few-boson Bose--Hubbard chain with its number-conserving classical-field counterpart under the same driving and the same coarse spatial record. The quantum system relaxes more in the observed particle distribution, yet the retained mean energy resolves more of the microscopic structure hidden by that record, leaving less information unusable and smaller entropy generation. We then close the process into a heat-engine cycle whose controls use only the measured mean energy and spatial record, not full state tomography; at matched thermal resources, the smaller entropy generation gives more work and higher efficiency. The advantage fades as the particle number grows toward the classical-field regime.
ER -