  Quantum mechanical particles in a confining potential interfere with each
other while undergoing thermodynamic processes far from thermal equilibrium. By
evaluating the corresponding transition probabilities between many-particle
eigenstates we obtain the quantum work distribution function, for identical
Bosons and Fermions, which we compare with the case of distinguishable
particles. We find that the quantum work distributions for Bosons and Fermions
significantly differ at low temperatures, while, as expected, at high
temperatures the work distributions converge to the classical expression. These
findings are illustrated with two analytically solvable examples, namely the
time-dependent infinite square well and the parametric harmonic oscillator.
