Related papers: Maximally efficient quantum thermal machines: The …
The quantum engine cycle serves as an analogous representation of classical heat engines for microscopic systems and the quantum regime of thermal devices is composed of a single element. In this work, the Quantum-Mechanical properties of a…
After a brief historical perspective, we introduce the key notions of work and heat for quantum systems, to then apply them to quantum engines operating on quantum Otto and Carnot cycles. The irreversible and dissipative character of the…
We study the possibility of achieving the Carnot efficiency in a finite-power underdamped Brownian Carnot cycle. Recently, it was reported that the Carnot efficiency is achievable in a general class of finite-power Carnot cycles in the…
We define thermodynamic configurations and identify two primitives of discrete quantum processes between configurations for which heat and work can be defined in a natural way. This allows us to uncover a general second law for any discrete…
Developments in the thermodynamics of small quantum systems envisage non-classical thermal machines. In this scenario, energy fluctuations play a relevant role in the description of irreversibility. We experimentally implement a quantum…
The problem of simulating the thermal behavior of quantum systems remains a central open challenge in quantum computing. Unlike well-established quantum algorithms for unitary dynamics, \emph{provably efficient} algorithms for preparing…
Non-equilibrium effects may have a profound impact on the performance of thermal devices performing thermodynamic tasks such as refrigeration or heat pumping. The possibility of enhancing the performance of thermodynamic operations by means…
Recent experimental breakthroughs produced the first nano heat engines that have the potential to harness quantum resources. An instrumental question is how their performance measures up against the efficiency of classical engines. For…
Cyclical heat engines are a paradigm of classical thermodynamics, but are impractical for miniaturization because they rely on moving parts. A more recent concept is particle-exchange (PE) heat engines, which uses energy filtering to…
We investigate the performance of a microscopic quantum heat engine consisting of V- or Lambda-type emitters interacting collectively or independently when being in contact with environmental thermal reservoirs. Though the efficiency of a…
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…
The minimal-coupling quantum heat engine is a thermal machine consisting of an explicit energy storage system, heat baths, and a working body, which alternatively couples to subsystems through discrete strokes -- energy-conserving two-body…
Performance of nano- and micro-scale heat engines can be improved with a help from quantum mechanical phenomena. Recently, heat reservoirs with quantum coherence have been proposed to enhance engine performance beyond the Carnot limit even…
We show that coupled two level systems like qubits studied in quantum information can be used as a thermodynamic machine. At least three qubits or spins are necessary and arranged in a chain. The system is interfaced between two split baths…
We present a mechanism for efficiency increase in quantum heat engines containing internal energy levels that do not couple to the external work sink. The gain is achieved by using these levels to channel heat in a direction opposite to the…
We investigate the quantum thermodynamic cycle of a quantum heat engine carrying out an Otto thermodynamic cycle. We use the thermal properties of a moving heat bath with relativistic velocity with respect to the cold bath. As a working…
From an entropy-based formulation of the first law of thermodynamics in the quantum regime, we investigate the performance of Otto-like and Carnot-like engines for a single-qubit working medium. Within this framework, the first law includes…
To investigate the impact of fractional parameter on the thermodynamic behaviors of quantum systems, we incorporate fractional quantum mechanics into the cycle of a quantum Stirling heat engine and examine the influence of fractional…
We propose a quantum Stirling heat engine with an ensemble of harmonic oscillators as the working medium. We show that the efficiency of the harmonic oscillator quantum Stirling heat engine (HO-QSHE) at a given frequency can be maximized at…
We study two-dimensional quantum Carnot engines of spherical symmetry by considering the case of a particle on the surface of a sphere of changing radius. The Carnot cycle is built allowing the state of the system to change with the…