Related papers: Relativistic quantum heat engine from uncertainty …

The minimal set of thermodynamic control parameters consists of a statistical (thermal) and a mechanical one. These suffice to introduce all the pertinent thermodynamic variables; thermodynamic processes can then be defined as paths on this…

In this review the debated rapport between thermodynamics and quantum mechanics is addressed in the framework of the theory of periodically-driven/controlled quantum-thermodynamic machines. The basic model studied here is that of a…

Using information entropy formalism, we consider a one-dimensional system with heat flux and extend the meaning of equilibrium variables to non equilibrium scenarios when classical local equilibrium approach is not applicable; this is…

Modeling quantum thermal machines provides a practical approach to describing the thermodynamic properties of quantum technologies and devices. For this purpose, power-law potentials are often employed as working mediums of quantum…

Optical pump-probe signals can be viewed as work done by the matter while transferring the energy between two coherent baths (from pump to probe). In thermodynamics a heat engine, such as laser, is a device which performs similar work but…

We consider a quantum system strongly coupled to multiple heat baths at different temperatures. Quantum heat transport phenomena in this system are investigated using two definitions of the heat current, one in terms of the system energy,…

The heat engine, a machine that extracts useful work from thermal sources, is one of the basic theoretical constructs and fundamental applications of classical thermodynamics. The classical description of a heat engine does not include…

Once in its non-equilibrium steady state, a nanoscale system coupled to several heat baths may be thought-of as a quantum heat pump. Depending on the direction of its stationary heat flows it may function as e.g. a refrigerator or a heat…

The efficiency of macroscopic heat engines is restricted by the second law of thermodynamics. They can reach at most the efficiency of a Carnot engine. In contrast, heat currents in mesoscopic heat engines show fluctuations. Thus, there is…

A quantum-mechanical analog of the Carnot engine reversibly working at vanishing temperature, shortly termed the quantum-mechanical Carnot engine, is discussed. A general formula for the efficiency of such an engine with an arbitrary…

We present the exact theory of quantum engines whose working medium is a network of driven oscillators performing an arbitrary cyclic process while coupled to thermal and nonthermal reservoirs. We show that when coupled to a single…

We discuss whether, and under which conditions, it is possible to realize a heat engine simply by dynamically modulating the couplings between the quantum working medium and thermal reservoirs. For that purpose, we consider the paradigmatic…

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…

Traditional quantum thermodynamic frameworks associate work to energy exchanges induced by unitary transformations generated by external controls, and heat to energy exchanges induced by bath interaction. Recently, a framework was…

We study a chain of interacting individual quantum systems connected to heat baths at different temperatures on both ends. Starting with the two-system case, we thoroughly investigate the conditions for heat rectification (asymmetric heat…

How should one define thermodynamic quantities (internal energy, work, heat, etc.) for quantum systems coupled to their environments strongly? We examine three (classically equivalent) definitions of a quantum system's internal energy under…

Theoretical treatments of periodically-driven quantum thermal machines (PD-QTMs) are largely focused on the limit-cycle stage of operation characterized by a periodic state of the system. Yet, this regime is not immediately accessible for…

Quantum thermodynamic process involves manipulating and controlling quantum states to extract energy or perform computational tasks with high efficiency. There is still no efficientgeneral method to theoretically quantify the effect of the…

The design and implementation of quantum technologies necessitates the understanding of thermodynamic processes in the quantum domain. In stark contrast to macroscopic thermodynamics, at the quantum scale processes generically operate far…

We discuss the thermodynamics of closed quantum systems driven out of equilibrium by a change in a control parameter and undergoing a unitary process. We compare the work actually done on the system with the one that would be performed…