Landauer Versus Nernst: What is the True Cost of Cooling a Quantum System?

Thermodynamics connects our knowledge of the world to our capability to manipulate and thus to control it. This crucial role of control is exemplified by the third law of thermodynamics, Nernst's unattainability principle, which states that infinite resources are required to cool a system to absolute zero temperature. But what are these resources and how should they be utilized? And how does this relate to Landauer's principle that famously connects information and thermodynamics? We answer these questions by providing a framework for identifying the resources that enable the creation of pure quantum states. We show that perfect cooling is possible with Landauer energy cost given infinite time or control com-plexity. However, such optimal protocols require complex unitaries generated by an external work source. Restricting to unitaries that can be run solely via a heat engine, we derive a novel Carnot-Landauer limit, along with protocols for its saturation. This generalizes Landauer's principle to a fully thermodynamic setting, leading to a unification with the third law and emphasizes the importance of control in quantum thermodynamics.

Automated summary

Thermodynamics links our understanding of the world to our ability to manipulate and control it. The third law of thermodynamics and Nernst's unattainability principle highlight the need for infinite resources to cool a system to absolute zero temperature. This study provides a framework for identifying the resources required for creating pure quantum states, and extends Landauer's principle to a thermodynamic setting. It emphasizes the importance of control and demonstrates the connection between information and thermodynamics.