There is an intricate relationship between quantum correlations and energy. Primarily, a conceptual connection exists through entropy. Thermodynamic entropy defines the relationship between the reversible transfer of heat and temperature. On the other hand, information entropy quantifies both classical and quantum correlations. Numerous examples demonstrate the equivalence of these two types of entropy. For instance, temperature can, in principle, be seen as a manifestation of quantum entanglement. Moreover, experiments [1] have shown that initial discord shared between nuclear spins can lead to an anomalous heat flow from cold to hot within a molecule. Our research agenda seeks to elucidate the intricate relationship between quantum correlations and energy, bridging quantum mechanics and thermodynamics to address fundamental questions in physics and biochemistry.
During his postdoctoral research, Onur Pusuluk derived a master equation from a microscopic collision model that describes the open system dynamics under the influence of a locally thermal environment, which can contain either classical or quantum correlations. By solving this equation analytically, regardless of the collision duration or the environment’s temperature, he identified quantum reciprocal relations between heat and quantum correlations, for which we introduced the term thermocoherent effect [J.4]. However, our quantum-information thermodynamics research is not limited to the phenomena of thermocoherence.
[1] K. Micadei et al. Nat. Commun. 10, 2456 (2019).
Based on our studies in quantum-information thermodynamics [J.4], we can inject quantum correlations into a region to make compact non-thermal cooling or heating environments where injecting heat would be inefficient. This effect may pave the way for temperature manipulation within a single molecule and has wide-ranging ramifications for physics, biology, and chemistry. For example, Peltier devices control temperature-sensitive biochemical reactions such as DNA replication in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology. Conversely, we can produce quantum correlations through a thermal gradient. Phononic devices, such as thermal diodes and transistors, can rectify heat flows on the micro and nanoscales, making them particularly useful in the thermocoherent preparation of qubits for information processing and thermodynamic tasks. In this regard, we investigate the possibility of designing quantum technologies based on phononics rather than electronics. Additionally, we explore the possibility of preserving quantum correlations in a reservoir by optimizing thermocoherent coefficients.
Thermomajorization criterion offers a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for the thermodynamic state transformations of microscopic, semiclassical, or highly correlated systems that are out of equilibrium. These conditions impose stricter constraints than those of free energy. We explore whether fundamental single-molecule biochemical processes adhere to principles derived from (a variant of) thermo-majorization pre-order or align with the traditional second law of thermodynamics. By addressing this profound question, we aim to provide a concrete application of one of the most cutting-edge mathematical frameworks in quantum-information thermodynamics, potentially reshaping our understanding of biochemistry at a fundamental level. Also, we plan to integrate pragmatic resource-theoretical approaches and dynamic open-system methods to enhance understanding of the role of correlations in the emergence of classicality at the molecular scale.
The possibility that correlations arising from particle delocalization may also play a catalytic role, a concept we first introduced in [U.3], deserves further exploration, as its verification could significantly alter our understanding of enzyme catalysis.
Catalytic transformations in thermodynamics have not been sufficiently explored within the framework of quantum information theory in the literature. One reason for this is that the phenomenon of catalysis remains within the scope of resource theory and has not been examined through open quantum systems approaches. We aim to address this gap in the literature by focusing on the phenomenon of thermocoherence.
In his pioneering 1931 paper, Onsager investigated a chemical monomolecular triangle reaction A ↔ B ↔ C ↔ A to illustrate his reciprocity relations. Although this investigation was limited to currents for population fractions, a molecule can exist in the quantum coherent superposition of two electronic configurations. According to thermocoherent phenomena [J.4], quantum coherences generate new flows to or from the third configuration, which can coherently change the chemical equilibrium. We investigate the possibility of catalytic correlations in such monomolecular triangle reactions.
