https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-025-01791-w
Review
Towards nonlinear quantum thermodynamics
1
Department of Chemical and Biological Physics & AMOS, Weizmann Institute of Science, 7610001, Rehovot, Israel
2
Department of Physics, SRM University AP, 522240, Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh, India
3
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), 826004, Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India
4
3. Physikalisches Institute, Center for Applied Quantum Technologies, University of Stuttgart, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
5
Palacky University, 77146, Olomouc, Czech Republic
Received:
30
March
2025
Accepted:
7
July
2025
Published online:
12
July
2025
We have recently put forth several schemes of unconventional, nonlinearly-enabled thermodynamic (TD) devices that can operate in either the classical or the quantum domain by transforming thermal-state input in multiple uncorrelated modes into non-gaussian state output in selected modes: a four-mode Kerr-nonlinear interferometer that acts as a heat engine; two coupled Kerr-nonlinear Mach-Zehnder interferometers that act as a phase microscope with unprecedented phase resolution; and a noise sensor that can distinguish between unknown nonlinear quantum processes. These schemes reveal the unique merits of nonlinear TD devices: their ability to act in an autonomous, fully coherent, dissipationless fashion, unlike their conventional counterparts. Here we present the opportunities and challenges facing this new paradigm of nonlinear (NL) quantum and classical TD devices along the following lines: (A) Linear versus nonlinear multimode transformations in TD devices: what are the principal distinctions between the two types of transformations? (B) Classical versus quantum effects in NL TD devices: what are their main differences? Is quantumness an advantage or a disadvantage? (C) Deterministic methods of achieving giant nonlinearity at the few-photon level via coherent processes, including multiatom-bath interactions which can paradoxically yield NL Hamiltonian effects: their comparison with probabilistic, measurement-based methods that can achieve similar NL effects in the quantum domain.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
