Related papers: Underdamped stochastic heat engine at maximum effi…
In a recent Letter [EPL, 118 (2017) 40003], Polettini and Esposito claimed that it is theoretically possible for a thermodynamic machine to achieve Carnot efficiency at divergent power output through the use of infinitely-fast processes. It…
We explore the thermodynamics of stochastic heat engines in presence of stochastic resetting. The set-up comprises an engine whose working substance is a Brownian particle undergoing overdamped Langevin dynamics in a harmonic potential with…
We present the spin quantum Otto machine under different optimization criterion when function either as a heat engine or a refrigerator. We examine the optimal performance of the heat engine and refrigerator depending on their efficiency,…
A specific class of stochastic heat engines driven cyclically by time-dependent potential, which is defined in the half-line ($0<x<+\infty$), is analysed. For such engines, most of their physical quantities can be obtained explicitly,…
We consider a quantum Otto cycle operating between two squeezed thermal reservoirs. The influences of the squeezing degree on the optimization performance of quantum Otto heat engines and refrigerators are investigated. We demonstrate that…
We investigate the thermoelectric performance of minimally nonlinear irreversible heat engines with broken time-reversal symmetry (TRS), realized through voltage and voltage-temperature probe configurations. Our framework extends the…
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 quantum-mechanical analog of the Carnot engine reversibly working at vanishing temperature, shortly termed the quantum-mechanical Carnot engine, is discussed. A general formula for the efficiency of such an engine with an arbitrary…
Since its inception about two centuries ago thermodynamics has sparkled continuous interest and fundamental questions. According to the second law no heat engine can have an efficiency larger than Carnot's efficiency. The latter can be…
We study a refrigerator model which consists of two $n$-level systems interacting via a pulsed external field. Each system couples to its own thermal bath at temperatures $T_h$ and $T_c$, respectively ($\theta\equiv T_c/T_h<1$). The…
The Carnot cycle is a prototype of ideal heat engine to draw mechanical energy from the heat flux between two thermal baths with the maximum efficiency, dubbed as the Carnot efficiency $\eta_{\mathrm{C}}$. Such efficiency can only be…
Relativistic quantum systems exhibit unique features not present at lower energies, such as the existence of both particles and antiparticles, and restrictions placed on the system dynamics due to the light cone. In order to understand what…
Heat engines constitute the major building blocks of modern technologies. However, conventional heat engines with higher power yield lesser efficiency and vice versa and respect various power-efficiency trade-off relations. This is also…
We study the optimization of the performance of arbitrary periodically driven thermal machines. Within the assumption of fast modulation of the driving parameters, we derive the optimal cycle that universally maximizes the extracted power…
The condition for stationary engines to attain the Carnot efficiency in and beyond the linear response regime is investigated. We find that this condition for finite-size engines is significantly different from that for macroscopic engines…
Classical thermodynamics aimed to quantify the efficiency of thermodynamic engines by bounding the maximal amount of mechanical energy produced compared to the amount of heat required. While this was accomplished early on, by Carnot and…
We present a self contained formalism modelled after the Brownian motion of a quantum harmonic oscillator for describing the performance of microscopic Brownian heat engines like Carnot, Stirling and Otto engines. Our theory, besides…
We establish a theory of optimal efficiency and power for three-terminal thermoelectric engines which have two independent output electric currents and one input heat current. This set-up goes beyond the conventional heat engines with only…
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…
The Curzon-Ahlborn (CA) cycle is a paradigmatic model of endoreversible heat engines, which yields the so-called CA efficiency as the efficiency at maximum power. Due to the arbitrariness of the relationship between the steady temperature…