Related papers: Steering heat engines: a truly quantum Maxwell dem…
We study the thermodynamic performance of the finite-time non-regenerative Stirling cycle used as a quantum heat engine. We consider specifically the case in which the working substance (WS) is a two-level system. The Stirling cycle is made…
In a recently published letter [S. W. Kim, T. Sagawa, S. DeLiberato, and M. Ueda, PRL 106, 070401 (2011)] the influence of particle statistics on extractable work in the Szilard engine was discussed. We point out that the expressions given…
A theory of feedback controlled heat transport in quantum systems is presented. It is based on modelling heat engines as driven multipartite systems subject to projective quantum measurements and measurement-conditioned unitary evolutions.…
Steady-state quantum thermal machines are typically characterized by a continuous flow of heat between different reservoirs. However, at the level of discrete stochastic realizations, heat flow is unraveled as a series of abrupt quantum…
According to the wave-particle duality (WPD), quantum systems show both particle- and wave-like behavior, and cannot be described using only one of these classical concepts. Identifying quantum features that cannot be reproduced by any…
By harnessing quantum phenomena, quantum devices have the potential to outperform their classical counterparts. Previous work has shown that a bosonic working medium can yield better performance than a fermionic medium. We expand upon this…
Quantum interference is at the heart of what sets the quantum and classical worlds apart. We demonstrate that quantum interference effects involving a many-body working medium is responsible for genuinely non-classical features in the…
We present a new approach for witnessing quantum resources, such as entanglement and coherence, based on heat generation. Inspired by Maxwell's demon, we ask what the optimal heat exchange between a quantum system and a thermal environment…
Quantum heat engines are subjected to quantum fluctuations related to their discrete energy spectra. Such fluctuations question the reliable operation of quantum engines in the microscopic realm. We here realize an endoreversible quantum…
We study the quantum mechanical generalization of force or pressure, and then we extend the classical thermodynamic isobaric process to quantum mechanical systems. Based on these efforts, we are able to study the quantum version of…
Real quantum heat engines lack the separation of time and length scales that is characteristic for classical engines. They must be understood as open quantum systems in non-equilibrium with time-controlled coupling to thermal reservoirs as…
Quantum cycles in established heat engines can be modeled with various quantum systems as working substances. For example, a heat engine can be modeled with an infinite potential well as the working substance to determine the efficiency and…
With the approaching second quantum revolution, the study of quantum thermodynamics, particularly heat flow, has become even more relevant for two main reasons. First, understanding heat and other types of noise is essential for protecting…
The laws of thermodynamics put limits to the efficiencies of thermal machines. Analogues of these laws are now established for quantum engines weakly and passively coupled to the environment providing a framework to find improvements to…
We study a quantum Stirling cycle which extracts work using quantized energy levels of a potential well. The work and the efficiency of the engine depend on the length of the potential well, and the Carnot efficiency is approached in a low…
Thermal machines are physical systems designed to convert thermal energy into practical work through cyclic state transformations. A key component in such a machine is a clock-equipped control element that dictates which interaction…
We propose a new thermodynamic equality and several inequalities concerning the relationship between work and information for an isothermal process with Maxwell's demon. Our approach is based on the formulation a la Jarzynski of the…
Recently, Zhang {\em et al.} [PRA, {\bf 75}, 062102 (2007)] extended Kieu's interesting work on the quantum Otto engine [PRL, {\bf 93}, 140403 (2004)] by considering as working substance a bipartite quantum system $AB$ composed of…
The ability to measure the stochastic degrees of freedom of a thermal system enables the extraction of energy from an equilibrium heat bath. This is the underlying principle of Maxwell's demon and subsequent information engines. Here, we…
We demonstrate the existence of universal features in the finite-time thermodynamics of quantum machines by considering a many-body quantum Otto cycle in which the working medium is driven across quantum critical points during the unitary…