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  • Open Access

Thermodynamic Framework for Coherently Driven Systems

Max Schrauwen1,*, Aaron Daniel2,*, Marcelo Janovitch2, and Patrick P. Potts2

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 220201 – Published 24 November, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/zdbv-rksc

Abstract

The laws of thermodynamics are a cornerstone of physics. At the nanoscale, where fluctuations and quantum effects matter, there is no unique thermodynamic framework because thermodynamic quantities such as heat and work depend on the accessibility of the degrees of freedom. We derive a thermodynamic framework for coherently driven systems, where the output light is assumed to be accessible. The resulting second law of thermodynamics is strictly tighter than the conventional one, and it demands the output light to be more noisy than the input light. We illustrate our framework across several well-established models, and we show how the three-level maser can be understood as an engine that reduces the noise of a coherent drive. Our framework opens a new avenue for investigating the noise properties of driven-dissipative quantum systems.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 220201– Published 24 November, 2025
  • Received 19 May 2025
  • Revised 15 August 2025
  • Accepted 21 October 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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