Thermodynamic Uncertainty Relation with Quantum Feedback

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Authors: Ryotaro Honma, Tan Van Vu
Cited by: 0
References: 56

Abstract

Fluctuations are intrinsic to microscopic systems and impose fundamental limits on nonequilibrium precision, as captured by the thermodynamic uncertainty relation (TUR), which links current fluctuations to entropy production. While feedback control is expected to further suppress fluctuations, its role within the TUR framework has remained unclear, particularly in quantum systems where control is inherently information driven. In this Letter, we consider open quantum systems weakly coupled to a thermal environment, in which quantum jumps are continuously monitored, and Markovian feedback is applied. Using quantum mutual information to quantify the information contribution induced by feedback, we derive a finite-time TUR for arbitrary time-integrated currents in terms of entropy production and mutual information. Our results uncover how feedback control suppresses fluctuations together with thermodynamic cost and establish a fundamental precision bound imposed by information-based control. As an application, we analyze a quantum clock model and demonstrate that the clock precision can be enhanced by feedback control in the presence of a single thermal reservoir.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics Quantum Information and Cryptography Quantum Mechanics and Applications

Publication details

Journal / source
Physical Review Letters
Volume
137
Issue
16
Pages
160406–160406
Publication date
10 September 2026
Language
EN