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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Experimental demonstration of a quantum engine driven by entanglement and local measurements

Kunkun Wang1,2, Ruqiao Xia1,3, Léa Bresque4, and Peng Xue1,*

  • 1Beijing Computational Science Research Center, Beijing 100084, China
  • 2School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
  • 3Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom
  • 4Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, Institut Néel, 38000 Grenoble, France

  • *gnep.eux@gmail.com
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Phys. Rev. Research 4, L032042 – Published 22 September, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.L032042

Abstract

Understanding entanglement and quantum measurements from a thermodynamics point of view is a fundamental and challenging task. Recently, a two-qubit engine was put forward as an appropriate platform to tackle these challenges. Here we achieve an experimental simulation and provide the direct experimental proof of these findings using single photons and linear optics. Encoding the qubits by polarization and transverse spatial modes of single photons, entanglement is created through the interaction between them. We show that, upon local measurement, classical mutual information can be extracted in order to fuel a quantum measurement engine. By measuring the energy changes, we identify that the energy gain comes from the measurement channel and corresponds to the cost of erasing the quantum correlations between qubits. The scheme is further generalized to an N-qubit chain for energy upconversion. Our experimental results provide a thorough understanding of this quantum engine with entanglement and local measurements as a new kind of fuel, as well as a general platform for exploration of quantum engines.

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. Research 4, L032042– Published 22 September, 2022
  • Received 30 April 2022
  • Accepted 12 September 2022
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