Related papers: Work needed to drive a thermodynamic system betwee…

In many real-world situations, there are constraints on the ways in which a physical system can be manipulated. We investigate the entropy production (EP) and extractable work involved in bringing a system from some initial distribution $p$…

The concept of entropy in nonequilibrium macroscopic systems is investigated in the light of an extended equation of motion for the density matrix obtained in a previous study. It is found that a time-dependent information entropy can be…

The measurement of thermal fluctuations provides information about the microscopic state of a thermodynamic system and can be used in order to extract work from a single heat bath in a suitable cyclic process. We present a minimal framework…

The goal of thermodynamic optimal control theory is to find protocols to change the state of a system from an initial to a desired final distribution, within a finite time, with the least possible expenditure of work. The optimal protocol…

After the justification of the maximum entropy principle for equilibrium mechanical system from the principle of virtual work, i.e., the virtual work of microscopic forces on the elements of a mechanical system vanishes in thermodynamic…

We review and discuss the equations governing the distribution of work done on a system which is driven out of equilibrium by external manipulation, as well as those governing the entropy flow to a reservoir in a nonequilibrium system. We…

Considering a general microscopic model for a quantum measuring apparatus comprising a quantum probe coupled to a thermal bath, we analyze the energetic resources necessary for the realization of a quantum measurement, which includes the…

The developing field of stochastic thermodynamics extends concepts of macroscopic thermodynamics such as entropy production and work to the microscopic level of individual trajectories taken by a system through phase space. The scheme…

We consider continuously monitored quantum systems and introduce definitions of work and heat along individual quantum trajectories that are valid for coherent superpositions of energy eigenstates. We use these quantities to extend the…

It is shown that the most important feature of Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics is not the entropy production, but the organization of the currents in order to flow. This is also needed to obtain the maximum entropy in the equilibrium state,…

Thermodynamics of nanoscale devices is an active area of research. Despite their noisy surrounding they often produce mechanical work (e.g. micro-heat engines), display rectified Brownian motion (e.g. molecular motors). This invokes…

For a single enzyme or molecular motor operating in an aqueous solution of non-equilibrated solute concentrations, a thermodynamic description is developed on the level of an individual trajectory of transitions between states. The concept…

For macroscopic systems, the second law of thermodynamics establishes an inequality between the amount of work performed on a system in contact with a thermal reservoir, and the change in its free energy. For microscopic systems, this…

In the standard framework of thermodynamics the work produced or consumed in a process is a random variable whose average value is bounded by the change in the free energy of the system. This work is calculated without regard for the size…

Active matter constantly dissipates energy to power the self-propulsion of its microscopic constituents. This opens the door to designing innovative cyclic engines without any equilibrium equivalent. We offer a consistent thermodynamic…

In a quantum Stirling heat engine, the heat exchanged with two thermal baths is partly utilized for performing work by redistributing the energy levels of the working substance. We analyze the thermodynamics of a quantum Stirling engine…

There are many functional contexts where it is desirable to maintain a mesoscopic system in a nonequilibrium state. However, such control requires an inherent energy dissipation. In this article, we unify and extend a number of works on the…

Developing the non-equilibrium thermodynamics of friction is required for systematic design of low friction surfaces for a broad range of technological applications. Intuitively, the thermodynamic work done by a material sliding along a…

The energy conversion efficiency of far-from-equilibrium systems is generally limited by irreversible thermodynamic fluxes that make contact with different heat baths. For complex systems, the states of the maximum efficiency and the…

The problem of time-dependent particle transport in quantum conductors is nowadays a well established topic. In contrast, the way in which energy and heat flow in mesoscopic systems subjected to dynamical drivings is a relatively new…