Distribution of energy dissipated by a driven two-level system

Abstract

In the context of fluctuation relations, we study the distribution of energy dissipated by a driven two-level system. Incorporating an energy counting field into the well known spin-boson model enables us to calculate the distribution function of the amount of energy exchanged between the system and the bath. We also derive the conditional distribution functions of the energy exchanged with the bath for particular initial and/or final states of the two-level system. We confirm the symmetry of the conditional distribution function expected from the theory of fluctuation relations. We also find that the conditional distribution functions acquire considerable quantum corrections at times shorter or of the order of the dephasing time. Our findings can be tested using solid-state qubits.