Quantum Thermodynamics: An Introduction to the Thermodynamics of Quantum Computers

We are the verge of a technological revolution. Over the last couple of years the first computational devices have become commercially available that promise to exploit so-called quantum supremacy. Even though the thermodynamic cost for processing classical information has been known since the 1960s, the thermodynamic description of quantum computers is still at its infancy. This is due to the fact that many notions of classical thermodynamics, such as work and heat, do not readily generalize to quantum systems. In this keynote, we will outline a novel conceptual framework of an emerging theory, Quantum Thermodynamics, and illustrate its applicability, mindset, and questions with a few pedagogical examples.