Related papers: An endoreversible quantum heat engine driven by at…
We consider the optimization of the work output and fluctuations of a finite-time quantum Otto heat engine cycle consisting of compression and expansion work strokes of unequal duration. The asymmetry of the cycle is characterized by a…
We show that a quantum Otto cycle in which the medium, an interacting ultracold gas, is driven between a superfluid and an insulating phase can outperform similar single particle cycles. The presence of an energy gap between the two phases…
We consider a finite-time quantum Otto cycle with single and two-spin-$1/2$ systems as its working medium. In order to mimic adiabatic dynamics at a finite-time, we employ a shortcut-to-adiabaticity technique and evaluate the performance of…
Non-equilibrium effects may have a profound impact on the performance of thermal devices performing thermodynamic tasks such as refrigeration or heat pumping. The possibility of enhancing the performance of thermodynamic operations by means…
Quantum coherence has been shown to impact the operational capabilities of quantum systems performing thermodynamic tasks in a significant way, and yet the possibility and conditions for genuine coherence-enhanced thermodynamic operation…
The principle of microscopic reversibility lies at the core of fluctuation theorems, which have extended our understanding of the second law of thermodynamics to the statistical level. In the quantum regime, however, this elementary…
The primary obstacle in the field of quantum thermodynamics revolves around the development and practical implementation of quantum heat engines operating at the nanoscale. One of the key challenges associated with quantum working bodies is…
We introduce quantum heat engines that perform quantum Otto cycle and the quantum Stirling cycle by using a coupled pair of harmonic oscillator as its working substance. In the quantum regime, different working medium is considered for the…
Based on quantum thermodynamic processes, we make a quantum-mechanical (QM) extension of the typical heat engine cycles, such as the Carnot, Brayton, Otto, and Diesel cycles, etc. The temperature is not included in these QM engine cycles,…
Recent theoretical and experimental studies in quantum heat engines show that, in the quasi-static regime, it is possible to have higher efficiency than the limit imposed by Carnot, provided that engineered reservoirs are used. The…
The question of whether quantum coherence is a resource beneficial or detrimental to the performance of quantum heat engines has been thoroughly studied but remains undecided. To isolate the contribution of coherence, we analyze the…
The free energy of a quantum oscillator in an arbitrary heat bath at a temperature T is given by a "remarkable formula" which involves only a single integral. This leads to a corresponding simple result for the entropy. The low temperature…
We propose a novel type of quantum heat engine based on the ultrafast dynamical control of the magnetic properties of a nano-scale working body. The working principle relies on nonlinear phononics, an example for dynamical materials design.…
We propose and analyze the theoretical model for a two-stroke quantum heat engine with one of the heat baths replaced by a non-selective quantum measurement. We show that the engine's invariant reference state depends on whether the cycle…
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 thermodynamics of the Curzon-Ahlborn engine, which is a prototype of endoreversible engines, is elucidated. In particular, their criterion for adiabatic equilibration is revised. The so-called irreversibility of endoreversible engines…
Optimal engine performances are accomplished by quantum effects. Here we explore two routes towards ideal engines, namely (1) quantum systems that operate as hybrid machines being able to perform more than one useful task and (2) the…
Quantum many-body systems present substantial technical challenges from both analytical and numerical perspectives. Despite these difficulties, some progress has been made, including studies of interacting atomic gases and interacting…
There are both practical and foundational motivations to consider the thermodynamics of quantum systems at small scales. Here we address the issue of autonomous quantum thermal machines that are tailored to achieve some specific…
We present a detailed study of an asymmetrically driven quantum Otto engine with a time-dependent harmonic oscillator as its working medium. We obtain analytic expressions for the upper bounds on the efficiency of the engine for two…