Related papers: A quantum dynamical framework for Brownian heat en…
Fluctuations of thermodynamic quantities become non-negligible and play an important role when the system size is small. We develop finite-time thermodynamics of fluctuations in microscopic heat engines whose environmental temperature and…
We develop a perturbation theory of quantum (and classical) master equations with slowly varying parameters, applicable to systems which are externally controlled on a time scale much longer than their characteristic relaxation time. We…
How quantum coherence influences thermodynamic behavior remains an open question in quantum thermodynamics. Here we investigate this relation within the pure dephasing framework, where a central qubit interacts with a finite Ising-like spin…
We undertake a thorough analysis of the thermodynamics of the trajectories followed by a quantum harmonic oscillator coupled to $N$ dissipative baths by using a new approach to large-deviation theory inspired by phase-space quantum optics.…
The nonequilibrium thermodynamics feature of a Brownian motor is investigated by obtaining exact time-dependent solutions. This in turn enables us to investigate not only the long time property (steady-state) but also the short time the…
Stability is an important property of small thermal machines with fluctuating power output. We here consider a finite-time quantum Carnot engine based on a degenerate multilevel system and study the influence of its finite Hilbert space…
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…
A single-piston quantum engine based on a harmonic oscillator acting as the working fluid is proposed. Using the fact that the interaction between the piston and the oscillator depends on the extent of the oscillator wavefunction, one can…
Small quantum systems non-weakly coupled to a bath become in the quantum regime surrounded by a cloud of photons or phonons, which modifies their thermodynamic behavior. Exactly solvable examples are the Brownian motion of a quantum…
We solve the model of N quantum Brownian oscillators linearly coupled to an environment of quantum oscillators at finite temperature, with no extra assumptions about the structure of the system-environment coupling. Using a compact…
Quantum thermal machines make use of non-classical thermodynamic resources, one of which is interactions between elements of the quantum working medium. In this paper, we examine the performance of a quasi-static quantum Otto engine based…
A colloidal particle embedded in a fluid can be used as a microscopic heat engine by means of a sequence of cyclic transformations imposed by an optical trap. We investigate a model for the operation of such kind of Brownian engines when…
We study how a quantum heat engine based on a single trapped ion performs in finite time. The always-on thermal environment acts like the hot bath, while the motional degree of freedom of the ion plays the role of the effective cold bath.…
Starting from the stochastic thermodynamics description of two coupled underdamped Brownian particles, we showcase and compare three different coarse-graining schemes leading to an effective thermodynamic description for the first of the…
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…
In this paper, we discuss some aspects of the energetics of a quantum Brownian particle placed in a harmonic trap, also known as the dissipative quantum oscillator. Based on the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, we analyze two distinct…
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 dissipative dynamics of a harmonic oscillator which couples linearly through its position and its momentum to two independent heat baths at the same temperature. We argue that this model describes a large spin in a ferromagnet.…
A dynamical model of a highly efficient heat engine is proposed, where an applied temperature difference maintains the motion of particles around the circuit consisting of two asymmetric narrow channels, in one of which the current flows…
We construct an example of heat engine whose efficiency at maximum power breaks down the previously derived bounds in the linear response regime. Such example takes a classical harmonic oscillator as the working substance undergoing a…