Related papers: Thermoelectric efficiency at maximum power in a qu…
In this article we use optimal control to maximize the efficiency of a quantum heat engine executing the Otto cycle in the presence of external noise. We optimize the engine performance for both amplitude and phase noise. In the case of…
Universal properties of efficiency at maximum power are investigated in a general setting. In particular, it is demonstrated how successive symmetries placed upon the dynamics manifest themselves at the macroscopic level. A general…
Here, we investigate the maximum power and corresponding efficiency of thermoelectric generators through devising a set of protocols for the isothermal and adiabatic processes of thermoelectricity to build a Carnot-like thermoelectric…
Quantum cycles in established heat engines can be modeled with various quantum systems as working substances. For example, a heat engine can be modeled with an infinite potential well as the working substance to determine the efficiency and…
A short introduction on quantum thermodynamics is given and three new topics are discussed: 1) Maximal work extraction from a finite quantum system. The thermodynamic prediction fails and a new, general result is derived, the ``ergotropy''.…
We study the optimization of the performance of arbitrary periodically driven thermal machines. Within the assumption of fast modulation of the driving parameters, we derive the optimal cycle that universally maximizes the extracted power…
We consider nano-sized artificial or biological machines working in steady state enforced by imposing non-equilibrium concentrations of solutes or by applying external forces, torques or electric fields. For unicyclic and strongly coupled…
We study a system composed of two quantum dots connected in series between two leads at different temperatures, in the limit of large intratomic repulsion. Using the non-crossing approximation, we calculate the spectral densities at both…
Endoreversible engine cycles are a cornerstone of finite-time thermodynamics. We show that endoreversible Stirling engines operating with a one-component plasma as working medium run at maximal power output with the Curzon-Ahlborn…
The thermoelectric properties of quantum dot arrays (QDAs) embedded in nanowires connected to electrodes are studied theoretically in the Coulomb blockade regime. A Hurbbard-Anderson model is used to simulate the electronic contribution to…
We investigate a heat- to charge-current converter consisting of a single-level quantum dot coupled to two ferromagnetic metals and one ferromagnetic insulator held at different temperatures. We demonstrate that this nano engine can act as…
The multi-terminal generalization of the steady-state density functional theory for the description of electronic and thermal transport (iq-DFT) is presented. The linear response regime of the framework is developed leading to exact…
In traditional thermodynamics the Carnot cycle yields the ideal performance bound of heat engines and refrigerators. We propose and analyze a minimal model of a heat machine that can play a similar role in quantum regimes. The minimal model…
We investigate the transport through a nanoscale device consisting of a degenerate double-orbital Anderson dot coupled to two uncorrelated leads. We determine the thermoelectric transport properties close to the one-electron regime and…
In this work we present a detailed study and derivation of the thermopower and thermoelectric coefficient of nano-granular metals at large tunneling conductance between the grains, g_T>> 1. An important criterion for the performance of a…
A quantum-mechanical analog of the Carnot engine reversibly working at vanishing temperature, shortly termed the quantum-mechanical Carnot engine, is discussed. A general formula for the efficiency of such an engine with an arbitrary…
Quantum heat engines and quantum refrigerators are proposed in three-terminal quantum Hall (QH) and quantum spin Hall (QSH) setups with a voltage-temperature probe in both the linear and nonlinear transport regimes. In the linear response…
Theoretical thermoelectric nanophysics models of low-dimensional electronic heat engine and refrigerator devices, comprising two-dimensional hot and cold reservoirs and an interconnecting filtered electron transport mechanism have been…
We review recent theoretical work on thermoelectric energy harvesting in multi-terminal quantum-dot setups. We first discuss several examples of nanoscale heat engines based on Coulomb-coupled conductors. In particular, we focus on quantum…
The quantum-mechanical and thermodynamic properties of a 3-level molecular cooling cycle are derived. An inadequacy of earlier models is rectified in accounting for the spontaneous emission and absorption associated with the coupling to the…