Related papers: Multi-stage quantum absorption heat pumps
We present an exact derivation of a process in which a microscopic measured system interacts with heat-bath and pointer modes of a measuring device, via a coupling involving a general Hermitian operator $\Lambda$ of the system. In the limit…
The extension of thermodynamics into the quantum regime has received much attention in recent years. A primary objective of current research is to find thermodynamic tasks which can be enhanced by quantum mechanical effects. With this goal…
A three-level system attached to three thermal baths is manipulated to be a microscopic thermal device integrating a valve, a refrigerator, an amplifier, and a thermometer in the quantum regime, via tuning the inner coupling strength of the…
Quantum superposition of energy eigenstates can appear autonomously in a single quantum two-level system coupled to a low-temperature thermal bath, if such coupling has a proper composite nature. We propose here a principally different and…
We present a detailed analysis of slowly driven quantum thermal machines based on interacting qubits within the framework of the Lindblad master equation. By implementing a systematic expansion in the driving rate, we derive explicit…
Heat-Bath Algorithmic Cooling is a set of techniques for producing highly pure quantum systems by utilizing a surrounding heat-bath and unitary interactions. These techniques originally used the thermal environment only to fully thermalize…
In this review the debated rapport between thermodynamics and quantum mechanics is addressed in the framework of the theory of periodically-driven/controlled quantum-thermodynamic machines. The basic model studied here is that of a…
We propose a novel molecular device that pumps heat against a thermal gradient. The system consists of a molecular element connecting two thermal reservoirs that are characterized by different spectral properties. The pumping action is…
From the steam engine to current nano-devices, the design of efficient thermal machines has been instrumental in modern societies. In its essence a thermal engine can be thought as a working substance, in contact with two or more baths,…
Thermodynamics is a branch of science blessed by an unparalleled combination of generality of scope and formal simplicity. Based on few natural assumptions together with the four laws, it sets the boundaries between possible and impossible…
We study the unitary time evolution of a simple quantum Hamiltonian describing a heat engine coupled to two heat baths. The engine is modeled as a three-level system. Each heat bath consists of a single harmonic oscillator. The engine is…
Differences between the thermodynamic behavior of the three-level amplifier (a quantum heat engine based on a thermally pumped laser) and the classical Carnot cycle are usually attributed to the essentially quantum or discrete nature of the…
We reveal the potentially important role of a general mechanism that has hitherto not been invoked in quantum heat management schemes, namely, spectral filtering of the coupling between the heat baths in the setup and the quantum system…
We discuss the application of techniques of quantum estimation theory and quantum metrology to thermometry. The ultimate limit to the precision at which the temperature of a system at thermal equilibrium can be determined is related to the…
A quantum dot driven by two ac gate potentials oscillating with a phase lag may be regarded as a quantum engine, where energy is transported and dissipated in the form of heat. In this chapter we introduce a microscopic model for a quantum…
The efficiency of a quantum heat engine is maximum when the unitary strokes are adiabatic. On the other hand, this may not be always possible due to small energy gaps in the system, especially at the critical point where the gap vanishes.…
Sadi Carnot's theorem regarding the maximum efficiency of heat engines is considered to be of fundamental importance in thermodynamics. This theorem famously states that the maximum efficiency depends only on the temperature of the heat…
Quantum thermal devices which can manage heat as their electronic analogues for the electronic currents have attracted increasing attention. Here a three-terminal quantum thermal device is designed by three coupling qubits interacting with…
The quantum analog of Carnot cycles in few-particle systems consists of two quantum adiabatic steps and two isothermal steps. This construction is formally justified by use of a minimum work principle. It is then shown, without relying on…
We present a theoretical model of an on-chip three-level maser in a superconducting circuit based on a single artificial atom and pumped by a temperature gradient between thermal baths coupled to different interlevel transitions. We show…