Carnot Meets Quantum Information: A Thermal Machine Driven by Non-orthogonal State Discrimination
Abstract
While the impossibility of perfectly identifying non-orthogonal states is a cornerstone of quantum information science, they can nevertheless be distinguished with a finite error probability. Here, we propose a two-reservoir quantum machine driven by such non-orthogonal-state discrimination to map its functional boundaries across the parameter space of the state overlap μ and the Carnot efficiency ηC. Within this ηC-μ plane, the machine exhibits phase-transition-like functional switching among a pure heat-engine phase, a mixed phase, and a dissipative phase. We identify critical thresholds governing these transitions: strong thermal driving (ηC>0.5) unconditionally guarantees positive work extraction, whereas weak driving (ηC ≲ 0.13) induces an anomalous reentrant transition, where increasing μ unexpectedly restores engine functionality after a purely dissipative regime. Our results explicitly demonstrate how quantum mechanics and thermodynamics jointly constrain information-to-energy conversion.
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BibTeX
@misc{zhou2026carnot,
title = {{Carnot Meets Quantum Information: A Thermal Machine Driven by Non-orthogonal State Discrimination}},
author = {Tan-Ji Zhou and Yun-Qian Lin and Yu-Han Ma and C. P. Sun},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.16623},
eprint = {2608.16623},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.16623},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Carnot Meets Quantum Information: A Thermal Machine Driven by Non-orthogonal State Discrimination
AU - Tan-Ji Zhou
AU - Yun-Qian Lin
AU - Yu-Han Ma
AU - C. P. Sun
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.16623
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.16623
AB - While the impossibility of perfectly identifying non-orthogonal states is a cornerstone of quantum information science, they can nevertheless be distinguished with a finite error probability. Here, we propose a two-reservoir quantum machine driven by such non-orthogonal-state discrimination to map its functional boundaries across the parameter space of the state overlap μ and the Carnot efficiency η_C. Within this η_C-μ plane, the machine exhibits phase-transition-like functional switching among a pure heat-engine phase, a mixed phase, and a dissipative phase. We identify critical thresholds governing these transitions: strong thermal driving (η_C>0.5) unconditionally guarantees positive work extraction, whereas weak driving (η_C ≲ 0.13) induces an anomalous reentrant transition, where increasing μ unexpectedly restores engine functionality after a purely dissipative regime. Our results explicitly demonstrate how quantum mechanics and thermodynamics jointly constrain information-to-energy conversion.
ER -