Related papers: Critique of some thermodynamic proofs based on the…
The thermodynamical entropy of a system which consists of different kinds of ideal gases is known to be defined successfully in the case when the differences are described by classical or quantum theory. Since these theories are special…
Macroscopic cyclic heat engines have been a major motivation for the emergence of thermodynamics. In the last decade, cyclic heat engines that have large fluctuations and operate at finite time were studied within the more modern framework…
In this work, we study the stochastic dynamics of micro-magnetics interacting with a spin-current torque. We extend the previously constructed stochastic Landau-Lifshitz equation to the case with spin-current torque, and verify the…
Reciprocal relations correlate fairly accurately a great variety of experimental results. Nevertheless, the concepts of statistical fluctuations, and microscopic reversibility - the bases of the accepted proof of the relations by Onsager -…
The microscopic explanation of entropy has been challenged from both experimental and theoretical point of view. The expression of entropy is derived from the first law of thermodynamics indicating that entropy or the second law of…
We study port-Hamiltonian systems with two external ports, and the strategies and limitations for conversion of energy from one port into the other. It turns out that, apart from the cyclo-passivity of port-Hamiltonian systems, this is…
The efficiency of macroscopic heat engines is restricted by the second law of thermodynamics. They can reach at most the efficiency of a Carnot engine. In contrast, heat currents in mesoscopic heat engines show fluctuations. Thus, there is…
The controversial existence of negative temperatures has stirred interesting debates that have reached the foundations of thermodynamics, including questions on the second law, the Carnot efficiency and the statistical definition of…
Stochastic pumps are models of artificial molecular machines which are driven by periodic time variation of parameters, such as site and barrier energies. The no-pumping theorem states that no directed motion is generated by variation of…
In textbooks on statistical mechanics, one finds often arguments based on classical mechanics, phase space and ergodicity in order to justify the second law of thermodynamics. However, the basic equations of motion of classical mechanics…
The interpretation of quantum theory is one of the longest-standing debates in physics. Type I interpretations see quantum probabilities as determined by intrinsic properties of the observed system. Type II see them as relational…
We consider a photo--Carnot engine that consists of a single--mode radiation field in an optical cavity. One the heat reservoirs is made of a beam of thermally entangled pairs of two--level atoms that interact resonantly with the cavity. We…
While Carnot's model engines demonstrate ideal performances regarding conversion efficiency, they cannot be actually used as energy converters since they are non causal systems. Such an unphysical behavior indeed restrains the working…
Entropy is critically examined as a fundamental concept in contemporary science and informatics. Although the typical Shannon entropy provides a proper framework for describing the canonical ensemble, it fails to represent adequately the…
Recent papers discussing thermodynamic processes in strongly coupled quantum systems claim a violation of Landauer's principle and imply a violation of the second law of thermodynamics. If true, this would have powerful consequences.…
Thermodynamics places a limit on the efficiency of heat engines, but not on their output power or on how the power and efficiency change with the engine's cycle time. In this manuscript, we develop a geometrical description of the power and…
The disputed question of uncertainty relations (UR) on a circle is regarded as a particular element of a more general problem which refers to the quantum description of angular observables $L_z$ and $\phi$. The improvised $L_z-\phi$ UR are…
Traditional derivation of Gibbs canonical distribution and the justification of thermodynamics are based on the assumption concerning an isoenergetic ergodicity of a system of $n$ weakly interacting identical subsystems and passage to the…
We present a geometric formalism for the non-equilibrium thermodynamics of a small system coupled to external isothermal reservoirs as an application of Thouless pumping, where the electrochemical potentials of the reservoirs and parameters…
The common saying, that information is power, takes a rigorous form in stochastic thermodynamics, where a quantitative equivalence between the two helps explain the paradox of Maxwell's demon in its ability to reduce entropy. In the present…