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Coarse-grained quantum thermodynamics: Observation-dependent quantities, observation-independent laws

Giulia Rubino1,2,*, Časlav Brukner3,4,†, and Gonzalo Manzano5,‡

  • *Contact author: giulia.rubino@bristol.ac.uk
  • †Contact author: caslav.brukner@univie.ac.at
  • ‡Contact author: gmanzano@ucm.es
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023284 – Published 11 June, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/gcyn-18tv

Abstract

In both classical and quantum thermodynamics, physical quantities are typically assigned objective values defined independently of our observations. We then refer to the “work performed by a gas,” or the “entropy of the gas,” regardless of how they are evaluated. Here, we question this conception in the context of quantum thermodynamics, estimating how the definition of pivotal thermodynamic quantities is affected by experimental instruments of limited precision. We find that the coarse-grained thermodynamic quantities frequently lead to different conclusions from those drawn in fine-grained scenarios. For instance, the irreversibility of a process, or its work payoff, can significantly vary with the instrument precision. We show nonetheless that coarse-grained thermodynamic quantities satisfy the same relations (i.e., the second law inequality, the relation between dissipation and distinguishability of a process from its time reverse, and the quantum work fluctuation theorems) as their fine-grained counterparts. These results highlight the observation independence of relations linking thermodynamic quantities, which are themselves observation dependent.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023284– Published 11 June, 2026
  • Received 20 November 2025
  • Accepted 6 May 2026
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