Related papers: Universality of efficiency at maximum power
A unified $\chi$-criterion for heat devices (including heat engines and refrigerators) which is defined as the product of the energy conversion efficiency and the heat absorbed per unit time by the working substance [de Tom\'{a}s \emph{et…
We derive the general probability distribution function of stochastic work for quantum Otto engines in which both the isochoric and driving processes are irreversible due to finite time duration. The time-dependent power fluctuations,…
Since its inception about two centuries ago thermodynamics has sparkled continuous interest and fundamental questions. According to the second law no heat engine can have an efficiency larger than Carnot's efficiency. The latter can be…
Irreversible aggregation is an archetypal example of a system driven far from equilibrium by sources and sinks of a conserved quantity (mass). The source is a steady input of monomers and the evaporation of colliding particles with a small…
We study the non-equilibrium thermodynamics of a heat engine operating between two finite-sized reservoirs with well-defined temperatures. Within the linear response regime, it is found that the uniform temperature of the two reservoirs at…
Optimal engine performances are accomplished by quantum effects. Here we explore two routes towards ideal engines, namely (1) quantum systems that operate as hybrid machines being able to perform more than one useful task and (2) the…
We consider the efficiency at maximum power of a quantum Otto engine, which uses a spin or a harmonic system as its working substance and works between two heat reservoirs at constant temperatures $T_h$ and $T_c$ $ (<T_h)$. Although the…
While strong system-bath coupling produces rich and interesting phenomena, applications to quantum thermal engines have been so far pointing mainly at detrimental effects. The delicate trade-off between efficiency loss due to strong…
Given a quantum heat engine that operates in a cycle that reaches maximal efficiency for a time-dependent Hamiltonian H(t) of the working substance, with overall controllable driving H(t) = g(t) H, we study the deviation of the efficiency…
Molecular motors convert chemical energy into mechanical work while operating in an environment dominated by Brownian motion. The aim of this paper is to explore the flow of energy between the molecular motors and its surroundings, in…
We derive an analytical expression for maximum efficiency at fixed power of heat pumps operating along a finite-time reverse Carnot cycle under the low-dissipation assumption. The result is cumbersome, but it implies simple formulas for…
We construct universal mixers, incompressible flows that mix arbitrarily well general solutions to the corresponding transport equation, in all dimensions. This mixing is exponential in time (i.e., essentially optimal) for any initial…
The Carnot cycle is a prototype of ideal heat engine to draw mechanical energy from the heat flux between two thermal baths with the maximum efficiency, dubbed as the Carnot efficiency $\eta_{\mathrm{C}}$. Such efficiency can only be…
There is intense effort into understanding the universal properties of finite-time models of thermal machines---at optimal performance---such as efficiency at maximum power, coefficient of performance at maximum cooling power, and other…
We consider a class of quantum heat engines consisting of two subsystems interacting via a unitary transformation and coupled to two separate baths at different temperatures $T_h > T_c$. The purpose of the engine is to extract work due to…
Microscopic biological systems operate far from equilibrium, are subject to strong fluctuations, and are composed of many coupled components with interactions varying in nature and strength. Researchers are actively investigating the…
We show the validity of some results of finite-time thermodynamics, also within the quasi-static framework of classical thermodynamics. First, we consider the efficiency at maximum work (EMW) from finite source and sink modelled as…
We investigate stochastic thermodynamics of a two-particles Langevin system. Each particle is in contact with a heat bath at different temperatures $T_1$ and $T_2~(<T_1)$, respectively. Particles are trapped by a harmonic potential and…
Brownian particles placed sequentially in contact with distinct thermal reservoirs and subjected to external driving forces are promising candidates for the construction of reliable thermal engines. In this contribution, we address the role…
The construction of efficient thermal engines operating at finite times constitutes a fundamental and timely topic in nonequilibrium thermodynamics. We introduce a strategy for optimizing the performance of Brownian engines, based on a…