Violation of the Thermodynamic Uncertainty Relation in Quantum Collisional Models

Abstract: The thermodynamic uncertainty relation (TUR) is a fundamental principle in non-equilibrium thermodynamics that relates entropy production to fluctuations in a system, establishing a trade-off between the precision of an observable and the thermodynamic cost. Investigating TUR violations challenges classical thermodynamic limits, offering the potential for improved precision-entropy trade-offs, which is crucial for enhancing performance and optimization in quantum technologies. In this work, we investigate the thermodynamic uncertainty relation within a quantum collisional model, which offers the advantage of discretizing interactions into successive collisions with auxiliaries, allowing for precise tracking of dynamics and the incorporation of memory effects and non-Markovian behavior. We consider three types of dynamics in the collisional model: one is Markovian evolution, achieved by taking the continuous time limit and imposing the stability condition, while the other two are non-Markovian dynamics - one arising from increasing the collision time between the system and the auxiliaries, and the other from incorporating interactions between the auxiliaries. For the Markovian dynamics, we examine the classical and quantum TUR bounds in the non-equilibrium steady-state regime, and also the finite-time TUR bound. We demonstrate that the classical TUR bound is violated once a certain threshold of collisions with the auxiliaries is exceeded, with the maximum violation observed at the steady state. For the two non-Markovian approaches, we find that the violation of the finite-time TUR bound is highly dependent on the type of non-Markovianity, warranting a detailed comparison.