近日，兰州大学理论物理中心的张宁及其研究小组与香港中文大学的陈翀合作并取得一项新进展。经过不懈努力，他们揭示非平衡态量子测温中的温度-热不确定关系。相关研究成果已于2024年7月11日在国际知名学术期刊《物理评论A》上发表。

该研究团队研究了基于非平衡探针的温度估计过程中的温度不确定性关系。研究人员通过温度-热不确定度关系证明了从根本上决定温度精度的是热波动。具体而言，研究人员发现热量分为轨迹热量和相关热量，它们分别与温度计演变过程中的热交换和温度计与样品之间的相关性有关。

研究人员基于两种类型的温度计进行研究，结果表明，这两项热特性都是提升温度测量精度的资源。该研究通过明确区分有助于提高估计精度的各种资源，不仅解释了为何各种量子特性对于精确温度传感至关重要，而且为设计超高灵敏度的量子温度计提供了宝贵的见解。

此外，他们还证明了温度-热量不确定关系与热力学中众所周知的温度-能量不确定关系是吻合的。它建立了信息论与热力学之间的联系。

附：英文原文

Title: Temperature-heat uncertainty relation in nonequilibrium quantum thermometry

Author: Ning Zhang, Si-Yuan Bai, Chong Chen

Issue&Volume: 2024/07/11

Abstract: We investigate the temperature uncertainty relation in the nonequilibrium probe-based temperature estimation process. We demonstrate that it is the fluctuation of heat that fundamentally determines temperature precision through the temperature-heat uncertainty relation. Specifically, we find that heat is divided into trajectory heat and correlation heat, which are associated with the heat exchange along the thermometer's evolution and the correlation between the thermometer and the sample, respectively. Based on two types of thermometers, we show that both of these heat terms are resources for enhancing temperature precision. By clearly distinguishing the resources for enhancing estimation precision, our findings not only explain why various quantum features are crucial for accurate temperature sensing but also provide valuable insights for designing ultrahigh-sensitive quantum thermometers. Additionally, we demonstrate that the temperature-heat uncertainty relation is consistent with the well-known temperature-energy uncertainty relation in thermodynamics. It establishes a connection between the information theory and the thermodynamics.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.110.012211

Source: https://journals.aps.org/pra/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevA.110.012211