Related papers: The smallest possible heat engines
We analyze a heat engine based on a hot cavity connected via quantum wells to electronic reservoirs. We discuss the output power as well as the efficiency both in the linear and nonlinear regime. We find that the device delivers a large…
Pistons are elementary components of a wide variety of thermal engines, allowing to convert input fuel into rotational motion. Here, we propose a single-piston engine where the rotational degree of freedom is effectively realized by the…
At the dawn of thermodynamics, Carnot's constraint on efficiency of heat engines stimulated the formulation of one of the most universal physical principles, the second law of thermodynamics. In recent years, the field of heat engines…
We propose a minimal setup for a quantum heat pump, consisting of two tunnel-coupled quantum dots, each hosting a single level and each being coupled to a different fermionic reservoir. The working principle relies on both non-Markovian…
In quantum thermodynamics, effects of finiteness of the baths have been less considered. In particular, there is no general theory which focuses on finiteness of the baths of multiple conserved quantities. Then, we investigate how the…
We model a tiny heat engine as a Brownian particle that moves in a viscous medium in a sawtooth potential (with or without load) assisted by $\it {alternately}$ placed hot and cold heat baths along its path. We find closed form expression…
Heat engines used to output useful work have important practical significance, which, in general, operate between heat baths of infinite size and constant temperature. In this paper we study the efficiency of a heat engine operating between…
The concept of thermal machines has evolved from the canonical steam engine to the recently proposed nanoscopic quantum systems as working fluids. The latter obey quantum open system dynamics and frequently operate in non-equilibrium…
Heat is a physical manifestation of entropy, where the removal of entropy from a thermal energy reservoir permits the conversion of heat into work. This entropy transfer is facilitated by the cold thermal energy reservoir in typical heat…
We analyze the performance of slowly driven meso- and micro-scale refrigerators and heat engines that operate between two thermal baths with small temperature difference. Using a general scaling argument, we show that such devices can work…
Work extraction from a heat engine in a cycle by a quantum mechanical device (quantum "piston") is analyzed. The standard definition of work fails in the quantum domain. The correct extractable work and its efficiency bound are shown to…
Collective effects have attracted remarkable recent interest, not only for their presence in several systems in nature but also for the possibility of being used for the construction of efficient engine setups. Notwithstanding, little is…
We study the optimal performance of Carnot-like heat engines working in low dissipation regime using the product of the efficiency and the power output, also known as the efficient power, as our objective function. Efficient power function…
We present a formalism to study the heat transport and the power developed by the local driving fields on a quantum system coupled to macroscopic reservoirs. We show that, quite generally, two important mechanisms can take place: (i)…
We use the general formulation of irreversible thermodynamics and study the minimally nonlinear irreversible model of heat engines operating between a time-varying hot heat source of finite size and a cold heat reservoir of infinite size.…
We propose a nanoscale heat engine that utilizes the physics of resonant tunneling in quantum dots in order to transfer electrons only at specific energies. The nanoengine converts heat into electrical current in a multiterminal geometry…
We study the statistical distribution of the ergotropy and of the efficiency of a single-qubit battery ad of a single-qubit Otto engine, respectively fuelled by random collisions. The single qubit, our working fluid, is assumed to exchange…
We introduce a class of stochastic engines in which the regime of units operating synchronously can boost the performance. Our approach encompasses a minimal setup composed of $N$ interacting units placed in contact with two thermal baths…
According to Thermodynamics, the efficiency of a heat engine is upper bounded by Carnot efficiency. For macroscopic systems, the Carnot efficiency is, however, achieved only for quasi static processes. And, considerable attention has been…
The difference between quantum isoenergetic process and quantum isothermal process comes from the violation of the law of equipartition of energy in the quantum regime. To reveal an important physical meaning of this fact, here we study a…