Quantum thermodynamic uncertainty relation and macroscopic superconducting coherence

Stability and efficiency are mutually exclusive in a thermodynamic process, e.g., in a thermal machine. Any effort to reduce the fluctuations of a certain output quantity is necessarily accompanied by an increase of entropy production, therefore lowering its efficiency. This interplay is beautifully captured by the so-called thermodynamic uncertainty relations (TURs), which set a lower bound on the relative uncertainty of a current for a given rate of entropy production. Their status in hybrid normal-superconducting (N-S) devices has remained unsettled. We show that, in the subgap regime, departures from the normal quantum TUR are governed by superconducting coherence quantified by the pair amplitude, and that introducing a dephasing probe suppresses this coherence and restores the bound. We further derive a hybrid quantum TUR that is general for two-terminal N-S junctions in the Andreev regime: the inequality is never violated, is saturated only at vanishing current, and is related to the normal quantum bound under the replacement <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <a:mrow> <a:mi>e</a:mi> <a:mo>→</a:mo> <a:mn>2</a:mn> <a:mi>e</a:mi> </a:mrow> </a:math> . For N-S quantum dot and Cooper-pair-splitter systems, we compute current and noise and show that deviations from the normal bound track the pair amplitude on the central region. The results establish a direct link between superconducting macroscopic coherence and nonequilibrium fluctuations and supply a general bound for the Andreev regime.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical Review Research
Published
2026-01-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/tfsv-fjzd
Primary Topic
Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Quantum thermodynamic uncertainty relation and macroscopic superconducting coherence

Michele Governale, Nahual Sobrino, Rosario P. Fazio, Anonymous et al.
Physical Review Research
Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism
article

Quantum thermodynamic uncertainty relation and macroscopic superconducting coherence

Michele Governale, Nahual Sobrino, Rosario P. Fazio, Anonymous, Fabio Taddei
article en

Abstract

Stability and efficiency are mutually exclusive in a thermodynamic process, e.g., in a thermal machine. Any effort to reduce the fluctuations of a certain output quantity is necessarily accompanied by an increase of entropy production, therefore lowering its efficiency. This interplay is beautifully captured by the so-called thermodynamic uncertainty relations (TURs), which set a lower bound on the relative uncertainty of a current for a given rate of entropy production. Their status in hybrid normal-superconducting (N-S) devices has remained unsettled. We show that, in the subgap regime, departures from the normal quantum TUR are governed by superconducting coherence quantified by the pair amplitude, and that introducing a dephasing probe suppresses this coherence and restores the bound. We further derive a hybrid quantum TUR that is general for two-terminal N-S junctions in the Andreev regime: the inequality is never violated, is saturated only at vanishing current, and is related to the normal quantum bound under the replacement <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <a:mrow> <a:mi>e</a:mi> <a:mo>→</a:mo> <a:mn>2</a:mn> <a:mi>e</a:mi> </a:mrow> </a:math> . For N-S quantum dot and Cooper-pair-splitter systems, we compute current and noise and show that deviations from the normal bound track the pair amplitude on the central region. The results establish a direct link between superconducting macroscopic coherence and nonequilibrium fluctuations and supply a general bound for the Andreev regime.

Physical Review ResearchVol. 8(1)
Universidad de Buenos Aires (AR), Center for Theoretical Physics (PL), Victoria University of Wellington (NZ), University of Naples Federico II (IT), MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology (NZ)
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Openalex Percentile: Top 71%
Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism
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Quantum thermodynamic uncertainty relation and macroscopic superconducting coherence — Michele Governale, Nahual Sobrino, et al. · Physical Review Research (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS