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We study nonequilibrium thermodynamics in a fermionic resonant level model with arbitrary coupling strength to a fermionic bath, taking the wide-band limit. In contrast to previous theories, we consider a system where both the level energy…
We analyze the dynamics of a simple but nontrivial classical Hamiltonian system of infinitely many coupled rotators. We assume that this infinite system is driven out of thermal equilibrium either because energy is injected by an external…
Steady nonequilibria dissipate energy and, when changing external parameters, an extra or excess heat accompanies the relaxation to the new nonequilibrium condition. For nonequilibrium systems in contact with a thermal bath, the heat…
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,…
The energy conversion efficiency of far-from-equilibrium systems is generally limited by irreversible thermodynamic fluxes that make contact with different heat baths. For complex systems, the states of the maximum efficiency and the…
We investigate a quantum heat engine with a working substance of two particles, one with a spin $1/2$ and the other with an arbitrary spin (spin $s$), coupled by Heisenberg exchange interaction, and subject to an external magnetic field.…
The derivation of general performance benchmarks is important in the design of highly optimized heat engines and refrigerators. To obtain them, one may model phenomenologically the leading sources of irreversibility ending up with results…
The Markovian evolution of an open quantum system is characterized by a positive entropy production, while the global entropy gets redistributed between the system and the environment degrees of freedom. Starting from these premises, we…
Cyclic classical and quantum thermal machines show higher efficiency when the strokes are carried out quasi-statically. Recent theoretical and experimental work on figures of merit for thermal machines show that they have an advantage when…
The study of open quantum systems often relies on approximate master equations derived under the assumptions of weak coupling to the environment. However when the system is made of several interacting subsystems such a derivation is in many…
Algebraic methods for solving time dependent Hamiltonians are used to investigate the performance of quantum thermal machines. We investigate the thermodynamic properties of an engine formed by two coupled q-bits, performing an Otto cycle.…
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 apply advanced methods of control theory to open quantum systems and we determine finite-time processes which are optimal with respect to thermodynamic performances. General properties and necessary conditions characterizing optimal…
The performance enhancements observed in various models of continuous quantum thermal machines have been linked to the buildup of coherences in a preferred basis. But, is this connection always an evidence of `quantum-thermodynamic…
Starting from a master equation in a quantum Hamilton form we study analytically a nonequilibrium system which is coupled locally to two heat bathes at different temperatures. Based on a lattice gas description an evolution equation for the…
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…
Engines are open systems that can generate work cyclically, at the expense of an external disequilibrium. They are ubiquitous in nature and technology, but the course of mathematical physics over the last 300 years has tended to make their…
We consider a class of quantum heat engines consisting of two subsystems interacting via a unitary transformation and coupled to two separate baths at different temperatures $T_h > T_c$. The purpose of the engine is to extract work due to…
A major limitations for many heat engines is that their functioning demands on-line control, and/or an external fitting between environmental parameters (e.g. temperatures of thermal baths) and internal parameters of the engine. We study a…
We construct a collision model description of the thermalization of a finite many-body system by using careful derivation of the corresponding Lindblad-type master equation in the weak coupling regime. Using the example of two level target…