Related papers: Clock-Driven Quantum Thermal Engines
The Carnot statement of the second law of thermodynamics poses an upper limit on the efficiency of all heat engines. Recently, it has been studied whether generic quantum features such as coherence and quantum entanglement could allow for…
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…
Understanding different aspects of time is at the core of many areas in theoretical physics. Minimal models of continuous stochastic and quantum clocks have been proposed to explore fundamental limitations on the performance of timekeeping…
In classical thermodynamics the work cost of control can typically be neglected. On the contrary, in quantum thermodynamics the cost of control constitutes a fundamental contribution to the total work cost. Here, focusing on quantum…
We construct a simple translationally invariant, nearest-neighbor Hamiltonian on a chain of 10-dimensional qudits that makes it possible to realize universal quantum computing without any external control during the computational process.…
Measurement-based quantum thermal machines are fascinating models of thermodynamic cycles where measurement protocols play an important role in the performance and functioning of the cycle. Despite theoretical advances, interesting…
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 present results concerning aspects of quantum thermodynamics under the background of non-Hermitian quantum mechanics for the dynamics of a quantum harmonic oscillator. Since a better control over the parameters in quantum thermodynamics…
The recent advances in the study of thermodynamics of microscopic processes have driven the search for new developments in energy converters utilizing quantum effects. We here propose a universal framework to describe the thermodynamics of…
The unavoidable irreversible losses of power in a heat engine are found to be of quantum origin. Following thermodynamic tradition a model quantum heat engine operating by the Otto cycle is analyzed. The working medium of the model is…
We set up a framework for quantum stochastic thermodynamics based solely on experimentally controllable, but otherwise arbitrary interventions at discrete times. Using standard assumptions about the system-bath dynamics and insights from…
Autonomous quantum thermal machines are particularly suited to understand how correlations between thermal baths, a load, and a thermal machine affect the overall thermodynamic functioning of the setup. Here, we show that by tuning the…
Quantum coherence provides a controllable thermodynamic resource that can raise or lower the effective temperature of a cavity mode, enabling efficiency tuning in quantum heat engines. Here, we derive analytic expressions for the effective…
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…
Developments in the thermodynamics of small quantum systems envisage non-classical thermal machines. In this scenario, energy fluctuations play a relevant role in the description of irreversibility. We experimentally implement a quantum…
We treat a quantum mechanical system with certain general properties which are expected to be common in macroscopic quantum systems. Starting from a PURE initial state (which may not describe an equilibrium) in which energy is mildly…
Non-autonomous dynamical systems appear in a very wide range of interesting applications, both in classical and quantum dynamics, where in the latter case it corresponds to having a time-dependent Hamiltonian. However, the quantum…
In order to unitarily evolve a quantum system, an agent requires knowledge of time, a parameter which no physical clock can ever perfectly characterise. In this letter, we study how limitations on acquiring knowledge of time impact…
According to the Second Law of thermodynamics, the evolution of physical systems has a preferred direction, that is characterized by some positive entropy production. Here we propose a direct way to measure the stochastic entropy produced…
We consider a thermodynamic machine in which the working fluid is a quantized harmonic oscillator that is controlled on timescales that are much faster than the oscillator period. We find that operation in this `fast' regime allows access…