Related papers: Stochastic independence as a resource in small-sca…

How much work can be extracted from a heat bath using a thermal machine? The study of this question has a very long tradition in statistical physics in the weak-coupling limit, applied to macroscopic systems. However, the assumption that…

Artificial molecular machines are often driven by the periodic variation of an external parameter. This external control exerts work on the system of which a part can be extracted as output if the system runs against an applied load.…

Recent studies have developed fundamental limitations on nanoscale thermodynamics, in terms of a set of independent free energy relations. Here we show that free energy relations cannot properly describe quantum coherence in thermodynamic…

We consider macroscopic systems in weak contact with boundary reservoirs and under the action of external fields. We present an explicit formula for the Hamiltonian of such systems, from which we deduce the equation of motions, the action…

Thermodynamics of a pseudospin-electron model without correlations is investigated. The correlation functions, the mean values of pseudospin and particle number, as well as the thermodynamic potential are calculated. The calculation is…

We study a class of non-equilibrium quasi-stationary states for a Markov system interacting with two different thermal baths. We show that the work done under a slow, external change of parameters admits a potential, i.e., the free energy.…

Our recent study reveals that macroscopic structure in thermodynamically equilibrium state and its temperature dependence for classical discrete system can be well-characterized by a single specially-selected microscopic state (which we…

We study the transition probabilities of a two-point measurement on a quantum system, initially prepared in a thermal state. We find two independent constraints on the difference between transition probabilities when the system is prepared…

Originally formulated for macroscopic machines, the laws of thermodynamics were recently shown to hold for quantum systems coupled to ideal sources of work (external classical fields) and heat (systems at equilibrium). Ongoing efforts have…

For the system with inhomogeneous distribution of macroscopic parameters we obtain thermodynamic relation which depends on the spatial point (coordinate). In our approach, to obtain such a relation we use the basic ideas of the method of…

We develop a consistent stochastic thermodynamics for environments composed of thermodynamic reservoirs in an external conservative force field, that is environments described by the Generalized or Gibbs canonical ensemble. We demonstrate…

The limit of small entropy production is reached in relaxing systems long after preparation, and in stationary driven systems in the limit of small driving power. Surprisingly, for extended systems this limit is not in general the…

Microscopic thermal machines promise to play an important role in future quantum technologies. Making such devices widely applicable will require effective strategies to channel their output into easily accessible storage systems like…

One of the key objectives in investigating small stochastic systems is the development of micrometer-sized engines and the understanding of their thermodynamics. However, the primary mathematical tool used for this purpose, the overdamped…

Time-dependent correlation functions of (unstable) particles undergoing biased or unbiased diffusion, coagulation and annihilation are calculated. This is achieved by similarity transformations between different stochastic models and…

We study the thermodynamics of open systems weakly driven out-of-equilibrium by nonconservative and time-dependent forces using the linear regime of stochastic thermodynamics. We make use of conservation laws to identify the potential and…

Conventional statistical mechanics describes large systems and averages over many particles or over many trials. But work, heat, and entropy impact the small scales that experimentalists can increasingly control, e.g., in single-molecule…

We analyze an autonomous micro-engine as a closed quantum mechanical system, including the work it performs and the fuel it consumes. Our model system shows by example that it is possible to transfer energy steadily and spontaneously…

Complex systems are often characterized by the interplay of multiple interconnected dynamical processes operating across a range of temporal scales. This phenomenon is widespread in both biological and artificial scenarios, making it…

The ideas of thermodynamics have proved fruitful in the setting of quantum information theory, in particular the notion that when the allowed transformations of a system are restricted, certain states of the system become useful resources…