I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research in Saitama, Japan. Here, I am working in the Theoretical Quantum Physics Laboratory, studying the thermodynamics of quantum systems. I am also contributing to the development of QuTiP, a widely used open source Python library for the simulation of open quantum system dynamics. My research is supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

When we study the behavior of objects as small as a few atoms, we find that they do not follow the same physical laws that we know from our daily experience. Such quantum objects can spontaneously teleport, exist in multiple states at once—like Schrödinger's famous cat—and be corre­lated with each other over long distances. However, when a large number of quantum objects is brought together, these non-intuitive effects vanish quickly. The quantum systems seemingly conspire to collectively hide their true nature and we are unable to observe any quantum behavior in everyday, macroscopic items.

It is thus not surprising that it has taken almost a century from the discovery of quantum physics until its first direct technological applications. Nowadays, research groups and companies around the world are implementing prototypes of advanced quantum technology. For example, quantum computers will soon be able to perform certain calculations using quantum superposition states more efficiently than their traditional counterparts.

This development motivates us to investigate whether devices such as motors, refrigerators or other thermal machines might also profit from quantum effects. To answer this question, we theoretically study the laws of thermodynamics on the quantum scale, examine bounds on the performance of nanoscopic thermal machines, and try to find optimal control schemes for such devices. The results of these investigations will not only be useful for scientists engineering thermal manage­ment for quantum computers, it will also help us better understand the thermo­dynamics of strongly coupled open quantum systems and shed new light on the border between quantum and classical physics. As first studies of quantum-scale thermal machines are currently being carried out in labs, it is exciting to see how our theory will compare to real-world data.