Thermodynamics of quantum information in noisy polarizers
Maxwell Aifer, Nathan Myers, Sebastian Deffner
TL;DR
The paper investigates the thermodynamic cost of quantum information flow through noisy optical polarization elements and derives Landauer-type bounds for absorbing linear polarizers and polarizing beamsplitters using classical and quantum formalisms. It develops a quantum master-equation framework and a multilayer collision-model to quantify heat dissipation and polarization dynamics, revealing temperature-dependent effects and a low-temperature discontinuity in the energy-entropy landscape. A quantum eraser experiment is proposed to probe the predicted temperature dependence of decoherence, linking microscopic dissipation to observable interference patterns. Overall, the work provides a principled framework to quantify dissipation in optical quantum networks and offers guidance for designing low-dissipation polarization components.
Abstract
Among the emerging technologies with prophesied quantum advantage, quantum communications has already led to fascinating demonstrations -- including quantum teleportation to and from satellites. However, all optical communication necessitates the use of optical devices, and their comprehensive quantum thermodynamic description is still severely lacking. In the present analysis we prove several versions of Landauer's principle for noisy polarizers, namely absorbing linear polarizers and polarizing beamsplitters. As main results we obtain statements of the second law quantifying the minimal amount of heat that is dissipated in the creating of linearly polarized light. Our findings are illustrated with an experimentally tractable example, namely the temperature dependence of a quantum eraser.