Related papers: Molecular machines operating on nanoscale: from cl…
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…
Advances in the fabrication and characterization of nanoscale systems now allow for a deeper understanding of one of the most basic issues in science and technology: the flow of energy at the microscopic level. In this Colloquium we survey…
The laws of thermodynamics strongly restrict the performance of thermal machines. Standard thermodynamics, initially developed for uncorrelated macroscopic systems, does not hold for microscopic systems correlated with their environments.…
We establish an analytical criterion for dynamical thermalization within harmonic systems, applicable to both classical and quantum models. Specifically, we prove that thermalization of various observables, such as particle energies in…
Periodic driving is used to operate machines that go from standard macroscopic engines to small non-equilibrium micro-sized systems. Two classes of such systems are small heat engines driven by periodic temperature variations and molecular…
Directional motion of nanoscale motors and driven particles in an isothermal environment costs a finite amount of energy despite zero work as decreed by the 2nd law, but quantifying this general limit remains difficult. Here we derive a…
The relationship between the thermodynamic and computational characteristics of dynamical physical systems has been a major theoretical interest since at least the 19th century, and has been of increasing practical importance as the…
The pursuit of achieving the maximum power in microscopic thermal engines has gained increasing attention in recent studies of stochastic thermodynamics. We employ the optimal control theory to study the performance of Brownian heat engines…
We study the efficiency fluctuations of a stochastic heat engine made of $N$ interacting unicyclic machines and undergoing a phase transition in the macroscopic limit. Depending on $N$ and on the observation time, the machine can explore…
Unlike macroscopic engines, the molecular machinery of living cells is strongly affected by fluctuations. Stochastic Thermodynamics uses Markovian jump processes to model the random transitions between the chemical and configurational…
Interest in the thermodynamics of computation has revived in recent years, driven by developments in science, economics and technology. Given the consequences of the growing demand for computational power, the idea of reducing the energy…
Efficiency of a Brownian particle moving along the axis of a three-dimensional asymmetric periodic channel is investigated in the presence of a symmetric unbiased force and a load. Reduction of the spatial dimensionality from two or three…
The theory of quantum thermodynamics investigates how the concepts of heat, work, and temperature can be carried over to the quantum realm, where fluctuations and randomness are fundamentally unavoidable. These lecture notes provide an…
We present a detailed study of a Brownian particle driven by Carnot-type refrigerating protocol operating between two thermal baths. Both the underdamped as well as the overdamped limits are investigated. The particle is in a harmonic…
The aim of this paper is to determine lost works in a molecular engine and compare results with macro (classical) heat engines. Firstly, irreversible thermodynamics are reviewed for macro and molecular cycles. Secondly, irreversible…
A model of an autonomous isothermal Brownian motor with an internal propulsion mechanism is considered. The motor is a Brownian particle which is semi-transparent for molecules of surrounding ideal gas. Molecular passage through the…
Granular and nanoscale materials containing a relatively small number of constituents have been studied to discover how their properties differ from their macroscopic counterparts. These studies are designed to test how far the known…
The thermodynamic uncertainty relation provides an inequality relating any mean current, the associated dispersion and the entropy production rate for arbitrary non-equilibrium steady states. Applying it here to a general model of a…
A quantum analog of friction (understood as a completely positive, Markovian, translation-invariant and phenomenological model of dissipation) is known to be in odds with the detailed balance in the thermodynamic limit. We show that this is…
Particle motion at the micro-scale is an incessant tug-of-war between thermal fluctuations and applied forces on one side, and the strong resistance exerted by fluid viscosity on the other. Friction is so strong that completely neglecting…