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Frozen and Growing Quantum Work under Noise: Coherence and Correlations as Key Resources

arXiv Quantum Physics
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⚡ Quantum Brief
New research reveals noise can paradoxically enhance quantum work extraction, challenging the assumption that noise only degrades quantum systems. The study decomposes ergotropy—the maximum extractable work—into coherent and incoherent components under Markovian noise. For single-qubit systems, coherent ergotropy can freeze or grow under specific noise conditions, with an upper bound tied to half the system’s quantum coherence. This suggests controlled noise could optimize energy storage in quantum batteries. Two-qubit Bell-diagonal states show no coherent ergotropy growth, but separable states with local coherence exhibit enhancement under phase-flip and depolarizing noise, proving coherence’s critical role in work extraction. Multipartite systems demonstrate collective reinforcement, with noise-induced ergotropy gains scaling with qubit count. This implies larger quantum networks could leverage noise for energy advantages. Entanglement doesn’t block enhancement: even entangled states can experience noise-driven ergotropy growth, hinting at compatibility with fast-charging quantum battery mechanisms.
Frozen and Growing Quantum Work under Noise: Coherence and Correlations as Key Resources

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Quantum Physics arXiv:2602.18860 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 21 Feb 2026] Title:Frozen and Growing Quantum Work under Noise: Coherence and Correlations as Key Resources Authors:Mohammad B. Arjmandi View a PDF of the paper titled Frozen and Growing Quantum Work under Noise: Coherence and Correlations as Key Resources, by Mohammad B. Arjmandi View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:We investigate the decomposition of ergotropy into incoherent and coherent contributions for quantum systems subject to typical Markovian noise channels. The incoherent part originates from population inversion in the energy eigenbasis after dephasing, while the coherent part captures the role of quantum coherence in work extraction. For single-qubit systems, we derive explicit conditions for freezing and enhancement of coherent ergotropy and obtain an analytical upper bound, showing that it cannot exceed one half of the state's quantum coherence. We then study two classes of separable two-qubit states under local noise. For Bell-diagonal states, which are locally completely passive and possess no local coherence, we prove that the total extractable work equals the average of geometric quantum and classical correlations. In this case, coherent ergotropy cannot be enhanced, although freezing occurs under specific noise conditions. By contrast, for separable states with local coherence, coherent ergotropy can increase under all considered noise channels, including phase-flip and depolarizing noise. Extending the analysis to multipartite systems, we show that both the magnitude and range of noise-induced enhancement grow with the number of qubits, indicating collective reinforcement. Finally, we demonstrate through an explicit example that entanglement does not prevent this enhancement: coherent ergotropy may increase under noise even for entangled states. Our results reveal that noise can assist energy storage, challenging the conventional view of noise as purely detrimental and suggesting compatibility between noise-assisted enhancement and fast entanglement-based charging mechanisms in quantum batteries. Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2602.18860 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2602.18860v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2602.18860 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Mohammad Bagher Arjmandi [view email] [v1] Sat, 21 Feb 2026 15:01:45 UTC (2,745 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Frozen and Growing Quantum Work under Noise: Coherence and Correlations as Key Resources, by Mohammad B. ArjmandiView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-02 References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) Links to Code Toggle Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)

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Source: arXiv Quantum Physics