Related papers: From single-shot to general work extraction with b…
In traditional thermodynamical and statistical-mechanical approaches one has (some) detailed knowledge of the principles governing the microdynamics of a system. However in many instances we may not have a Hamiltonian or good information…
The work performed on a system in a microcanonical state by changes in a control parameter is characterized in terms of its statistics. The transition probabilities between eigenstates of the system Hamiltonians at the beginning and the end…
Thermodynamic behaviors in a quantum Brownian motion coupled to a classical heat bath is studied. We then define a heat operator by generalizing the stochastic energetics and show the energy balance (first law) and the upper bound of the…
Stochastic thermodynamics is a framework for describing non-equilibrium processes at the level of fluctuating trajectories, where the state of a system evolves as a stochastic time series, allowing thermodynamic quantities such as work,…
We use the work done on and the heat removed from a system to maintain it in a nonequilibrium steady state for a thermodynamic-like description of such a system as well as of its fluctuations. Based on a generalized Onsager-Machlup theory…
The classical Jarzynski equality establishes an exact relation between the stochastic work performed on a system driven out of thermal equilibrium and the free energy difference in a corresponding quasi-static process. This fluctuation…
Characterizing fluctuations of work in coherent quantum systems is notoriously problematic. Here we reveal the ultimate source of the problem by proving that ($\mathfrak{A}$) energy conservation and ($\mathfrak{B}$) the Jarzynski…
We define common thermodynamic concepts purely within the framework of general Markov chains and derive Jarzynski's equality and Crooks' fluctuation theorem in this setup. In particular, we regard the discrete time case that leads to an…
Determining the work which is supplied to a system by an external agent, provides a crucial step in any experimental realization of transient fluctuation relations. This, however, poses a problem for quantum systems, where the standard…
The thermodynamic behavior of out-of-equilibrium quantum systems in finite-time dynamics encompasses the description of energy fluctuations, which dictates a series of system's physical properties. In addition, strong interactions in…
We provide a stochastic thermodynamic description across scales for $N$ identical units with all-to-all interactions that are driven away from equilibrium by different reservoirs and external forces. We start at the microscopic level with…
We investigate the connection between recent results in quantum thermodynamics and fluctuation relations by adopting a fully quantum mechanical description of thermodynamics. By including a work system whose energy is allowed to fluctuate,…
A suitable way of quantifying work for microscopic quantum systems has been constantly debated in the field of quantum thermodynamics. One natural approach is to measure the average increase in energy of an ancillary system, called the…
We derive the optimal estimates of the free energies of an arbitrary number of thermodynamic states from nonequilibrium work measurements; the work data are collected from forward and reverse switching processes and obey a fluctuation…
Recently (arXiv:0910.2870), we have derived a fluctuation theorem for systems in thermodynamic equilibrium compatible with anomalous response functions, e.g. the existence of states with \textit{negative heat capacities} $C<0$. In this…
We derive a universal bound on generalized currents in Langevin systems in terms of the mean-square fluctuations of the current and the total entropy production. This bound generalizes a relation previously found by Barato et al. to…
If the second law of thermodynamics forbids a transition from one state to another, then it is still possible to make the transition happen by using a sufficient amount of work. But if we do not have access to this amount of work, can the…
Fluctuations of thermodynamic observables, such as heat and work, contain relevant information on the underlying physical process. These fluctuations are however not taken into account in the traditional laws of thermodynamics. While the…
The thermodynamics of hot and dense matter created in heavy-ion collision experiments are usually studied as a system of infinite volume. Here we report on possible effects for considering a finite system size for such matter in the…
According to the laws of thermodynamics, no heat engine can beat the efficiency of a Carnot cycle. This efficiency traditionally comes with vanishing power output and practical designs, optimized for power, generally achieve far less.…