Previously derived expressions for the characteristic function of work
performed on a quantum system by a classical external force are generalized to
arbitrary initial states of the considered system and to Hamiltonians with
degenerate spectra. In the particular case of microcanonical initial states
explicit expressions for the characteristic function and the corresponding
probability density of work are formulated. Their classical limit as well as
their relations to the respective canonical expressions are discussed. A
fluctuation theorem is derived that expresses the ratio of probabilities of
work for a process and its time reversal to the ratio of densities of states of
the microcanonical equilibrium systems with corresponding initial and final
Hamiltonians.From this Crooks-type fluctuation theorem a relation between
entropies of different systems can be derived which does not involve the time
reversed process. This entropy-from-work theorem provides an experimentally
accessible way to measure entropies.Comment: revised and extended versio