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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…
We introduce an alternative way to understand the decomposition of a quantum system into interacting parts and show that it is natural in several physical models. This enables us to define a reduced density operator for a working system…
Two approaches to describe the thermodynamics of a subsystem that interacts with a thermal bath are considered. Within the first approach, the mean system energy $E_{S}$ is identified with the expectation value of the system Hamiltonian,…
In this work, we consider a two level $P\sigma_{z}$ pseudo-Hermitian system in contact with a thermal bath to study various thermodynamic properties. The system is realized in terms of infinitely many invariant subspaces. We find explicit…
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…
A multiscale theory of interacting continuum mechanics and thermodynamics of mixtures of fluids, electrodynamics, polarization and magnetization is proposed. The mechanical (reversible) part of the theory is constructed in a purely…
We study the thermalization properties of one-dimensional open quantum systems coupled to baths at their boundary. The baths are driven to their thermal states via Lindblad operators, while the system undergoes Hamiltonian dynamics. We…
Originally formulated for macroscopic machines, the laws of thermodynamics were recently shown to hold for quantum systems coupled to ideal sources of work (external classical fields) and heat (systems at equilibrium). Ongoing efforts have…
Many organisms capitalize on their ability to predict the environment to maximize available free energy, and reinvest this energy to create new complex structures. This functionality relies on the manipulation of patterns - temporally…
Constraints on work extraction are fundamental to our operational understanding of the thermodynamics of both classical and quantum systems. In the quantum setting, finite-time control operations typically generate coherence in the…
We propose a new protocol that ensures the fast equilibration of an overdamped harmonic oscillator by a joint time-engineering of the confinement strength and of the effective temperature of the thermal bath. We demonstrate experimentally…
We undertake a thorough analysis of the thermodynamics of the trajectories followed by a quantum harmonic oscillator coupled to $N$ dissipative baths by using a new approach to large-deviation theory inspired by phase-space quantum optics.…
Passivity is a fundamental concept in thermodynamics that demands a quantum system's energy cannot be lowered by any reversible, unitary process acting on the system. In the limit of many such systems, passivity leads in turn to the concept…
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 consider thermalization of a microscopic quantum system by interaction with a thermal bath. Our interest is the minimal size the bath can have while still being able to thermalize the system. Within a specific thermalization scheme we…
Optimizing open quantum system evolution is an important step on the way to achieving quantum computing and quantum thermodynamic tasks. In this article, we approach optimisation via variational principles and derive an open quantum system…
Chemical processes in closed systems are poorly controllable since they always relax to equilibrium. Living systems avoid this fate and give rise to a much richer diversity of phenomena by operating under nonequilibrium conditions. Recent…
We develop further the study of a system in contact with a multibath having different temperatures at widely separated timescales. We consider those systems that do not thermalize in finite times when in contact with an ordinary bath but…
Understanding the realization of thermal equilibrium through the thermalization process in a many-body system is a fundamental and complex scientific question, bridging thermodynamics and classical dynamics and connecting to a host of…
Exact and approximate expressions for thermodynamic characteristics of heated matter, which consists of particles with finite mass-widths, are constructed. They are expressed in terms of Fermi/Bose distributions and spectral functions,…