Fluctuation theorems for thermally isolated driven quantum systems: nonadiabaticity, excess work and strong inequalities

Abstract

We expand on the ideas developed by C. Jarzynski in Physica A 552, 122077 (2020), where an integral fluctuation theorem was derived with the aim of obtaining thermodynamic inequalities stronger than those implied by the Jarzynski equality. Restricting ourselves to the quantum setting, we derive the corresponding detailed fluctuation theorem and additional detailed and integral fluctuation theorems; we also provide a clear physical interpretation of the stochastic quantities defined in the previous reference. Furthermore, we show that their averages are given by the nonadiabaticity parameter (i.e., the relative entropy between the final state after a finite-time driving protocol and the corresponding adiabatically evolved state) and the excess work (also known as inner friction). We elaborate on the inequalities derived from the fluctuation theorems and discuss their connection to irreversibility and formulations of the Second Law.