Extracting work from coherence in a two-mode Bose–Einstein condensate

Abstract We show how work can be extracted from number-state coherence in a two-mode Bose–Einstein condensate. With careful tuning of parameters, a sequence of thermodynamically reversible steps transforms a Glauber coherent state into a thermal state with the same energy probability distribution. The work extracted during this process arises entirely from the removal of quantum coherence. More generally, we characterise quantum (from coherence) and classical (remaining) contributions to work output, and find that in this system the quantum contribution can be dominant over a broad range of parameters. The proportion of quantum work output can be further enhanced by squeezing the initial state. Due to the many-body nature of the system, the work from coherence can equivalently be understood as work from entanglement.