  In quantum thermodynamics, the standard approach to estimate work
fluctuations in unitary processes is based on two projective measurements, one
performed at the beginning of the process and one at the end. The first
measurement destroys any initial coherence in the energy basis, thus preventing
later interference effects. In order to decrease this back-action, a scheme
based on collective measurements has been proposed in~[PRL 118, 070601 (2017)].
Here, we report its experimental implementation in an optical system. The
experiment consists of a deterministic collective measurement on identically
prepared two qubits, encoded in the polarisation and path degree of a single
photon. The standard two projective measurement approach is also experimentally
realized for comparison. Our results show the potential of collective schemes
to decrease the back-action of projective measurements, and capture subtle
effects arising from quantum coherence.
