Trade-off between coherence and heat in a non-Markovian dephasing dynamics

Abstract

How quantum coherence influences thermodynamic behavior remains an open question in quantum thermodynamics. Here we investigate this relation within the pure dephasing framework, where a central qubit interacts with a finite Ising-like spin environment. Although the system's internal energy remains constant, the interaction induces decoherence and gives rise to nontrivial thermodynamic features. Within the two-point measurement approach, we show that the heat dissipated into the environment matches the coherent energy contribution appearing in a reformulated first law of quantum thermodynamics. Numerical calculations reveal oscillatory coherence dynamics, with revivals associated with information backflow and non-Markovian effects, as quantified by the Breuer-Laine-Piilo measure. We find that heat and coherence exhibit intertwined temporal behavior, with enhanced heat dissipation during coherence decay and reduced heat during revivals. These results suggest a connection between coherence dynamics and thermodynamic quantities in finite, closed composite systems undergoing pure dephasing.