Researchers at Institut Néel-CNRS, University of Saint Louis and University of Rochester recently realized a two-qubit engine fueled by entanglement and local measurements. This engine's unique design, outlined in a paper published in Physical Review Letters, could open up exciting possibilities for thermodynamics research and inform the development of new quantum technologies.
"Our paper is based on a very simple and deep effect of quantum mechanics: Measuring a quantum system disturbs the system, i.e., changes its state in a random way," Alexia Auffèves, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Phys.org. "As an immediate consequence, the measuring device provides both energy and entropy to the quantum system, playing a role similar to a hot source fueling a thermal engine. The noticeable difference is that here, the fuel is not thermal, but quantum."
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