Related papers: A Quantum Heat Machine from Fast Optomechanics
This Colloquium is a fast journey through the build-up of key thermodynamical concepts, i.e. work, heat and irreversibility -- and how they relate to information. Born at the time of industrial revolution to optimize the exploitation of…
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…
Accurately describing work extraction from a quantum system is a central objective for the extension of thermodynamics to individual quantum systems. The concepts of work and heat are surprisingly subtle when generalizations are made to…
We present a model for an autonomous quantum thermal machine comprised of two qubits capable of manipulating and even amplifying the local coherence in a non-degenerate external system. The machine uses only thermal resources, namely,…
A procedure to find optimal regimes for quantum thermal engines (QTMs) is described and demonstrated. The QTMs are modelled as the periodically-driven non-equilibrium steady states of open quantum systems, whose dynamics is approximated in…
The optimal control of open quantum systems is a challenging task but has a key role in improving existing quantum information processing technologies. We introduce a general framework based on Reinforcement Learning to discover optimal…
We construct an example of heat engine whose efficiency at maximum power breaks down the previously derived bounds in the linear response regime. Such example takes a classical harmonic oscillator as the working substance undergoing a…
Emulating thermal observables on a digital quantum computer is essential for quantum simulation of many-body physics. However, thermalization typically requires a large system size due to incorporating a thermal bath, whilst limited…
As a quantum device, a quantum heat engine (QHE) is described by a Hermitian Hamiltonian.However, since it is an open system, reservoirs have to be imposed phenomenologically without any description in the context of quantum mechanics. A…
Quantum thermodynamic relationships in emerging nanodevices are significant but often complex to deal with. The application of machine learning in quantum thermodynamics has provided a new perspective. This study employs reinforcement…
The separation of internal energy into heat and work in quantum thermodynamics is a controversial issue for a long time, and we revisit and solve this problem in this work. It is shown that the Hamiltonian plays dual roles for a quantum…
We investigate the limitations that emerge in thermodynamic tasks as a result of having local control only over the components of a thermal machine. These limitations are particularly relevant for devices composed of interacting many-body…
Modern technologies could soon make it possible to investigate the operation cycles of quantum heat engines by counting the photons that are emitted and absorbed by their working systems. Using the quantum jump approach to open-system…
Optimal (reversible) processes in thermodynamics can be modelled as step-by-step processes, where the system is successively thermalized with respect to different Hamiltonians by an external thermal bath. However, in practice interactions…
Explicit results for various quantum thermodynamic function (QTF) of a charged magneto-oscillator coupled to a heat bath at arbitrary temperature are demonstrated in this paper. Discernible expressions for different QTF in the two limits of…
A single-piston quantum engine based on a harmonic oscillator acting as the working fluid is proposed. Using the fact that the interaction between the piston and the oscillator depends on the extent of the oscillator wavefunction, one can…
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…
We investigate heat engines whose working substance is made of two coupled qubits performing a generalised Otto cycle by varying their applied magnetic field or their interaction strength during the compression and expansion strokes. During…
Local master equations are a widespread tool to model open quantum systems, especially in the context of many-body systems. These equations, however, are believed to lead to thermodynamic anomalies and violation of the laws of…
Quantum optomechanics opens a possibility to mediate a physical connection of quantum optics and classical thermodynamics. We propose and theoretically analyze a one-way chain starting from various quantum states of radiation. In the chain,…