Related papers: Carnot process with a single particle
Under a general framework, shortcuts to adiabatic processes are shown to be possible in classical systems. We then study the distribution function of the work done on a small system initially prepared at thermal equilibrium. It is found…
The laws of thermodynamics strongly restrict the performance of thermal machines. Standard thermodynamics, initially developed for uncorrelated macroscopic systems, does not hold for microscopic systems correlated with their environments.…
The non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and kinetic theory for a model of a confined quasi-two-dimensional gas of inelastic hard spheres is presented. The dynamics of the particles includes an effective mechanism to transfer the energy…
Several recent theories address the efficiency of a macroscopic thermodynamic motor at maximum power and question the so-called "Curzon-Ahlborn (CA) efficiency." Considering the entropy exchanges and productions in an n-sources motor, we…
The thermodynamics of quantum systems coupled to periodically modulated heat baths and work reservoirs is developed. By identifying affinities and fluxes, the first and second law are formulated consistently. In the linear response regime,…
We revisit the classic thermodynamic problem of maximum work extraction from two arbitrary sized hot and cold reservoirs, modelled as perfect gases. Assuming ignorance about the extent to which the process has advanced, which implies an…
Different models are described where non-interacting particles generate dissipative effective forces by the mixing of infinitely many soft normal modes. The effective action is calculated for these models within the Closed Time Path…
A recent paper by Gislason published in Am. J. Phys. deals with the celebrated example of the so-called "adiabatic piston", a system involving two ideal gases contained in a horizontal cylinder and separated by an insulating piston that…
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…
This first article of a series formulates the thermodynamics of ideal gases in a constant gravitational field in terms of an action principle that is closely integrated with thermodynamics. The theory, in its simplest form, does not deviate…
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…
The efficiency of an heat engine is traditionally defined as the ratio of its average output work over its average input heat. Its highest possible value was discovered by Carnot in 1824 and is a cornerstone concept in thermodynamics. It…
We study a nonequilibrium equation of states of an ideal quantum gas confined in the cavity under a moving piston with a small but finite velocity in the case that the cavity wall suddenly begins to move at time origin. Confining to the…
With the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick (LMG) model as an illustration, we construct a thermodynamic cycle composed of two isothermal processes and two isomagnetic field processes and study the thermodynamic performance of this cycle accompanied by…
Based on quantum thermodynamic processes, we make a quantum-mechanical (QM) extension of the typical heat engine cycles, such as the Carnot, Brayton, Otto, and Diesel cycles, etc. The temperature is not included in these QM engine cycles,…
We focus on the study of the processes undergone by a perfect gas when the external pressure is suddenly modified. The analysis shows that, from the second law perspective, there is a non-evident asymmetry between the processes of…
A suitable way of quantifying work for microscopic quantum systems has been constantly debated in the field of quantum thermodynamics. One natural approach is to measure the average increase in energy of an ancillary system, called 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 authors present a new molecular dynamics algorithm for sampling the isothermal-isobaric ensemble. In this approach the velocities of all particles and volume degrees of freedom are rescaled by a properly chosen random factor. The…
In the standard framework of thermodynamics the work produced or consumed in a process is a random variable whose average value is bounded by the change in the free energy of the system. This work is calculated without regard for the size…