Paper

Operational impact of quantum resources in chemical dynamics

Liebert, Julia, Scholes, Gregory D

2026

Overview

Quantum coherence and other non-classical features are widely discussed in chemical dynamics, yet it remains difficult to quantify when such resources are operationally relevant for a given process and observable. While quantum resource theories provide a comprehensive framework for comparing free and resourceful settings, existing approaches typically rely on resource monotones or on performance bounds under free operations, and do not directly quantify the maximal influence a chosen resource can exert on a fixed chemical dynamics. Here, we introduce task specific, process level quantifiers that upper bound the largest change a quantum resource can induce in a target figure of merit. Central is a resource impact functional \\(\\mathcal{C}_M(\\Lambda)\\), defined by comparing a state with its paired resource-free counterpart under the same quantum channel \\(\\Lambda\\), which admits an operational interpretation in binary hypothesis testing. We derive variation and time bounds that constrain how rapidly a resource can modify a target signal, providing resource-aware analogues of quantum speed limits. Moreover, we show that open system dynamics can be decomposed into free and resourceful components such that only the resourceful component contributes to \\(\\mathcal{C}_M(\\Lambda)\\), thereby isolating the parts of a generator responsible for resource-induced changes in the observable. We illustrate the framework exemplary for energy transfer in a donor-acceptor dimer in two analytically solvable regimes. Our results provide a general toolbox for diagnosing and benchmarking quantum resource effects in molecular processes.

• Publisher: Cornell University Library, arXiv.org
• Subject: Coherence / Energy transfer / Figure of merit / Hypothesis testing / Open systems / Quantum phenomena / Speed limits / System dynamics / Upper bounds