English

Bath engineering enhanced quantum critical engines

Quantum Physics 2022-10-21 v2 Statistical Mechanics

Abstract

Driving a quantum system across quantum critical points leads to non-adiabatic excitations in the system. This in turn may adversely affect the functioning of a quantum machine which uses a quantum critical substance as its working medium. Here we propose a bath-engineered quantum engine (BEQE), in which we use the Kibble--Zurek mechanism and critical scaling laws to formulate a protocol for enhancing the performance of finite-time quantum engines operating close to quantum phase transitions. In the case of free fermionic systems, BEQE enables finite-time engines to outperform engines operating in the presence of shortcuts to adiabaticity, and even infinite-time engines under suitable conditions, thus showing the remarkable advantages offered by this technique. Open questions remain regarding the use of BEQE based on non-integrable models.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2208.06578,
  title  = {Bath engineering enhanced quantum critical engines},
  author = {Revathy B. S. and Victor Mukherjee and Uma Divakaran},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2208.06578},
  year   = {2022}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-25T01:40:54.328Z