Geometric Thermodynamics in Open Quantum Systems: Coherence, Curvature, and Work
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Quantum Physics arXiv:2603.22452 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 23 Mar 2026] Title:Geometric Thermodynamics in Open Quantum Systems: Coherence, Curvature, and Work Authors:Eric R. Bittner View a PDF of the paper titled Geometric Thermodynamics in Open Quantum Systems: Coherence, Curvature, and Work, by Eric R. Bittner View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:We formulate a geometric framework for quasistatic thermodynamics in open quantum systems by parameterizing the dynamics on a control manifold. In the quasistatic limit, the system follows a manifold of stationary states, and the work performed over a cycle is given by the flux of a curvature two-form, $W \sim \int \Omega$, defined by the parametric response of the stationary state, establishing an open-system analog of classical thermodynamic area laws. For thermal stationary states, the curvature is isotropic and depends only on the instantaneous energy scale, yielding a population-driven geometry in which environmental parameters reshape how work is distributed across the control manifold. Beyond this limit, nonequilibrium stationary states can retain coherence in the energy representation; using a fixed-basis Lindblad model, we show that this coherence reshapes the curvature, making it anisotropic and sign-changing, so that work depends sensitively on the placement and orientation of the cycle. Quantum coherence therefore partitions the control manifold into regions of opposite curvature, producing geometric cancellation of work and allowing the net work over a cycle to be reduced or reversed despite dissipative dynamics. Thermodynamic work thus emerges as a curvature flux whose structure is set by thermodynamic response in classical systems and by basis misalignment between the Hamiltonian eigenbasis and the environment-selected pointer basis in open quantum systems. Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) Cite as: arXiv:2603.22452 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2603.22452v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2603.22452 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Eric R. Bittner [view email] [v1] Mon, 23 Mar 2026 18:21:19 UTC (528 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Geometric Thermodynamics in Open Quantum Systems: Coherence, Curvature, and Work, by Eric R. BittnerView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-03 Change to browse by: cond-mat cond-mat.stat-mech 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?)