Talk on Experimental Study of Quantum Thermodynamics with Classical Light

02.10.2017 14:00 - 15:00

Paulo Ribeiro from GIQSUL – Departement of Physics, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil gives a talk on Experimental Study of Quantum Thermodynamics with Classical Light.

The so called classical light beams are light fields under certain conditions that they can be fully described without Quantum Theories. Despite the classical description, they can be used to emulate quantum systems when one is focused on their oscillatory properties. One example is the analogy between the paraxial wave equation and the two-dimension Schrödinger equation, which leads to a connection between the propagation of a paraxial light beam and the time evolution of a particle in a two-dimension potential. We explore this connection to study the Jarzynski's fluctuation relation through the implementation of the two-measurement protocol. While in theory this relation is an equality, in a real set we observe deviations from equality that are connected to noise and changes in the entropy. We show how we can use measurement and feedback to implement a Maxwell's demon, which reduces the entropy. Our experimental scheme is based on Laguerre-Gaussian modes that emulate energy eigenstates of a two-dimension quantum harmonic oscillator.

Organiser:
Hosted by: Philip Walther
Location:
Ernst Mach lecture hall, 2nd floor, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna