Not-quite-free shortcuts to adiabaticity

Abstract

Given the increasing use of shortcuts to adiabaticity (STA) to optimize the power and efficiency of quantum heat engines, it becomes a relevant question if there are any theoretical limits to their application. We argue that quantum fluctuations in the control device which implements the shortcut deflect the system from the adiabatic path. This not only induces transitions to unwanted final states but also changes the system energy, so that using the STA has a definite cost in terms of conventional work definitions. This may be the ultimate cost of an adiabatic shortcut, in the sense that it is present even for a frictionless, zero-temperature driving. We estimate the effect, to lowest nontrivial order in the derivatives of the time-dependent frequency, on a parametric harmonic oscillator, thus providing a consistency condition for the validity of the classical approximation.