Two-point measurement of entropy production from the outcomes of a single experiment with correlated photon pairs

Abstract

Fluctuation theorems are one of the pillars of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. Broadly speaking, they concern the statistical distribution of quantities such as heat, work or entropy production. Quantum experiments, however, usually can only assess these distributions indirectly. In this letter we provide an experimental demonstration of a quantum fluctuation theorem where the distribution of entropy production is obtained directly from the outcomes (clicks) of an optical experiment. The setup consists of entangled photon pairs, one of which is sent an interferometer emulating a finite temperature amplitude damping device. Blocking specific paths of the interferometer is tantamount to restricting the possible configurations of the reservoir. And by measuring its entangled pair, we can directly implement the two-point measurement scheme, thus avoiding the destructive nature of photo-detection.