Researchers have devised a new way to define thermodynamic concepts in microscopic quantum systems, where conventional distinctions between heat and work begin to blur.
Researchers at the University of Basel have introduced a new way to apply thermodynamic principles to very small quantum systems.
The story of thermodynamics traces back to 1798, when officer and physicist Benjamin Thompson (a.k.a. Count Rumford) studied the drilling of cannon barrels in Munich and realized that heat is not a physical substance but can be produced endlessly through mechanical friction.
To explore this idea, Rumford placed the heated barrels in water and timed how long it took for the water to boil. Experiments like these eventually helped shape the field of thermodynamics in the 19th century, a period when the discipline played a key role in the Industrial Revolution by revealing how heat could be converted into useful work in devices such as steam engines.
Today, the major laws of thermodynamics form essential knowledge across the natural sciences. They state that the total energy, which includes both heat and work, remains constant in a closed system, and that entropy, which represents disorder, cannot decrease.
These laws are generally valid, but when trying to apply them to the smallest quantum systems, one quickly runs into difficulties. A team of researchers at the University of Basel, led by Professor Patrick Potts, has now found a new way to define thermodynamic quantities consistently for certain quantum systems. Their results were recently published in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters.
Laser light in a cavity
“The problem we have with the thermodynamic description of quantum systems is that in such systems, everything is microscopic. This means that the distinction between work, which is useful macroscopic energy, and heat, or disordered microscopic motion, is no longer straightforward”, doctoral student Aaron Daniel explains.
By way of an example, Daniel and his colleagues took a closer look at so-called cavity resonators in which incident laser light is reflected back and forth between two mirrors and, eventually, partially exits the cavity.
Unlike the light from an ordinary light bulb or LED, laser light has the special property that all its electromagnetic waves oscillate exactly in lockstep. However, if the laser light passes through a cavity filled with atoms, this lockstep – also called coherence – can be disturbed to a greater or lesser extent. In this case, the light becomes partially or entirely incoherent (which corresponds to the disordered motion of particles). “The coherence of the light in such a laser-cavity-system was the starting point of our calculations,” says Max Schrauwen, a bachelor’s student involved in the project.
Work by coherence
The researchers first defined what they mean by “work” in the context of laser light: for instance, the capacity to charge a so-called quantum battery. This requires coherent light that can collectively take an ensemble of atoms to an excited state. For the sake of simplicity, one might now assume that the coherent laser light entering the cavity is able to do work, while the partially incoherent laser light exiting the cavity is not. In this view, the light leaving the cavity should be called “heat.”
However, even partially incoherent light can, in principle, still do some useful work – just less than completely coherent light. Daniel and his colleagues investigated what happens when the coherent part of the exiting light is considered work and only the incoherent part is treated as heat. The result: if work is defined in this way, both laws of thermodynamics are fulfilled and, therefore, the approach is consistent.
“In the future, we can use our formalism to consider more subtle problems in quantum thermodynamics,” says Daniel. This is relevant, for instance, for applications in quantum technologies such as quantum networks. Furthermore, the transition from classical to quantum behavior of macroscopic systems can be investigated even better in this way.
Reference: “Thermodynamic Framework for Coherently Driven Systems” by Max Schrauwen, Aaron Daniel, Marcelo Janovitch and Patrick P. Potts, 24 November 2025, Physical Review Letters.
DOI: 10.1103/zdbv-rksc
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8 Comments
Great! Will that do anything for my heating bill?
Exactly!!!
YES, we can use our formalism to consider more subtle problems in quantum thermodynamics.
Is the quantum a cat that is both dead and alive? Please write down the so-called quantum in some people’s memory.
The era of Topological Materials (TM) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are making great strides forward. If researchers are interested in Topological Materials, please visit https://scitechdaily.com/microscope-spacecrafts-most-precise-test-of-key-component-of-the-theory-of-general-relativity/#comment-911110.
Physicists Rewrite Thermodynamics for the Quantum Age.
VERY GOOD!
The Quantum Ara may be outdated, it’s better to enter the Topological Era as soon as possible!
Please ask physicists to think deeply:
Is the Physical Review Letters a publication that respects science?
The Quantum Age may be outdated, it’s better to enter the Topological Era as soon as possible!
Topological vortex theory (TVT) shifts the root of symmetry from continuous geometric attributes to discrete topological structures, offering a fresh perspective for understanding the origin of matter, the cosmological constant problem, and quantum gravity. Future work will focus on developing a rigorous mathematical formulation for this framework, particularly using methods of quantum field theory on topologically non-trivial backgrounds [3, 6, 10] to quantitatively describe the production and symmetry-changing mechanism of these vortex pairs, and to search for possible observable signatures.
——Excerpted from https://scitechdaily.com/microscope-spacecrafts-most-precise-test-of-key-component-of-the-theory-of-general-relativity/#comment-910947.
The revolutionary aspects of Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) lie in:
1. Geometrization of Physical Laws: Unifying gravity and quantum effects into the dynamics of vortex networks.
2. Philosophical Reconstruction: Bridging the philosophical divides between discrete and continuous, as well as determinism and randomness, through topological invariants.
The development of TVT will profoundly impact both fundamental science and technological paradigms. Its core innovation lies in forging the continuous spacetime geometry of general relativity with the discrete interactions of quantum field theory within the same topological dynamical system.
When we pursue the ultimate truth of all things, the space in which our bodies and all things exist may itself be the final and deepest puzzle we need to explore. This is not only the pursuit of physics, but also the most magnificent exploration of the origin of the universe by human reason.
Based on the Topological Vortex Theory (TVT), space is an uniformly incompressible physical entity. Space-time vortices are the products of topological phase transitions of the tipping points in space, are the point defects in spacetime. Point defects do not only impact the thermodynamic properties, but are also central to kinetic processes. They create all things and shape the world through spin and self-organization.
In today’s physics, some so-called peer-reviewed journals—including Physical Review Letters, Nature, Science, and others—stubbornly insist on and promote the following:
1. Even though θ and τ particles exhibit differences in experiments, physics can claim they are the same particle. This is science.
2. Even though topological vortices and antivortices have identical structures and opposite rotational directions, physics can define their structures and directions as entirely different. This is science.
3. Even though two sets of cobalt-60 rotate in opposite directions and experiments reveal asymmetry, physics can still define them as mirror images of each other. This is science.
4. Even though vortex structures are ubiquitous—from cosmic accretion disks to particle spins—physics must insist that vortex structures do not exist and require verification. Only the particles that like God, Demonic, or Angelic are the most fundamental structures of the universe. This is science.
5. Even though everything occupies space and maintains its existence in time, physics must still debate and insist on whether space exists and whether time is a figment of the human mind. This is science.
6. Even though space, with its non-stick, incompressible, and isotropic characteristics, provides a solid foundation for the development of physics, physics must still insist that the ideal fluid properties of space do not exist. This is science.
and go on.
Is this the counterintuitive science they widely promote? Compromising with pseudo academic publications and peer review by pseudo scholars is an insult to science and public intelligence. Some so-called scholars no longer understand what shame is. The study of Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) reminds us that the most profound problems in physics often lie at the intersection of different theories. By exploring these border regions, we can not only resolve contradictions in existing theories but also discover new physical phenomena and application possibilities.
Under the topological vortex architecture, it is highly challenging for even two hydrogen atoms or two quarks to be perfectly symmetrical, let alone counter-rotating two sets of cobalt-60. Contemporary physics and so-called peer-reviewed publications (including Physical Review Letters, Science, Nature, etc.) stubbornly believe that two sets of counter rotating cobalt-60 are two mirror images of each other, constructing a more shocking pseudoscientific theoretical framework in the history of science than the “geocentric model”. This pseudo scientific framework and system have seriously hindered scientific progress and social development.
For nearly a century, physics has been manipulated by this pseudo scientific theoretical system and the interest groups behind it, wasting a lot of manpower, funds, and time. A large amount of pseudo scientific research has been conducted, and countless pseudo scientific papers have been published, causing serious negative impacts on scientific and social progress, as well as humanistic development.
Complexity does not necessarily mean that there is no logical and architectural framework to follow. Mathematics is the language and tool that reveals the motion of spacetime, rather than the motion itself. Although the physical form of spacetime vortices is extremely simple, their interaction patterns are highly complex, and we must develop more and richer mathematical languages to describe and understand them.
The development of the Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) reflects a progression from concrete physical phenomena to abstract mathematical modeling and, ultimately, to interdisciplinary unification.
——Excerpted from https://scitechdaily.com/microscope-spacecrafts-most-precise-test-of-key-component-of-the-theory-of-general-relativity/#comment-909171.