Autonomization of Quantum Systems and the Emergence of the Work Operator
Source: Originally published on arXiv quant-ph on July 24, 2026.
arXiv:2607.20602v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Estimation of work at the quantum scale remains a central challenge in quantum thermodynamics. Canonical approaches have a fundamental drawback: they assume classical control of the quantum system, as implicit in a time-dependent Hamiltonian. Yet the energetic cost of implementing this control is omitted and can exceed the system's energy scale by orders of magnitude, calling into question the operational significance of work values. We address this by autonomizing the controlled energy transfer, embedding the driven dynamics into an energy-conserving evolution on a larger quantum system. Work is then unambiguously identified with the energy transferred between the two systems, singling out a unique observable on the driven system: the work o...
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