Thermodynamically Ideal Quantum State Inputs to Any Device

We investigate and ascertain the ideal inputs to any finite-time physical process. We demonstrate that the expectation values of entropy flow, heat, and work can all be determined via Hermitian observables of the initial state. These Hermitian operators encapsulate the breadth of behavior and the ideal inputs for common thermodynamic objectives. We show how to construct these Hermitian operators from measurements of thermodynamic output from a finite number of effectively arbitrary inputs. The behavior of a small number of test inputs thus determines the full range of thermodynamic behavior from all inputs. For any process, entropy flow, heat, and work can all be extremized by pure input states—eigenstates of the respective operators. In contrast, the input states that minimize entropy production or maximize the change in free energy are nonpure mixed states obtained from the operators as the solution of a convex-optimization problem. To attain these, we provide an easily implementable gradient-descent method on the manifold of density matrices, where an analytic solution yields a valid direction of descent at each iterative step. Ideal inputs within a limited domain, and their associated thermodynamic operators, are obtained with less effort. This allows analysis of ideal thermodynamic inputs within quantum subspaces of infinite-dimensional quantum systems; it also allows analysis of ideal inputs in the classical limit. Our examples illustrate the diversity of “ideal” inputs: distinct initial states minimize entropy production, extremize the change in free energy, and maximize work extraction.