Related papers: Autonomous implementation of thermodynamic cycles …
It is believed that thermodynamic laws are associated with random processes occurring in the system and, therefore, deterministic mechanical systems cannot be described within the framework of the thermodynamic approach. In this paper, we…
We study a thermo-mechanical system comprised of an alpha Stirling engine and a flywheel from the perspective of dynamical systems theory. Thermodynamics establish a static relation between the flywheel's angle and the forces exerted by the…
We have performed an extensive analysis of a single particle stochastic heat engine constructed by manipulating a Brownian particle in a time dependent harmonic potential. The cycle consists of two isothermal steps at different temperatures…
We apply advanced methods of control theory to open quantum systems and we determine finite-time processes which are optimal with respect to thermodynamic performances. General properties and necessary conditions characterizing optimal…
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,…
Focus of the chapter is on the theoretical approaches aimed to analyze thermoelectric properties at the nanoscale. We discuss several relevant theoretical approaches for different set-ups of nano-devices providing estimations of the…
A theoretical thermodynamic cycle more efficient than an infinite set of Carnot engines is presented. This result is unexpected from the point of view of classical thermodynamics.
Non-equilibrium thermodynamics can provide strong advantages when compared to more standard equilibrium situations. Here, we present a general framework to study its application to concrete problems, which is valid also beyond the…
The performance of quantum heat engines is generally based on the analysis of a single cycle. We challenge this approach by showing that the total work performed by a quantum engine need not be proportional to the number of cycles.…
Microscopic thermal machines promise to play an important role in future quantum technologies. Making such devices widely applicable will require effective strategies to channel their output into easily accessible storage systems like…
We review a series of experimental studies of the thermodynamics of nonequilibrium processes at the microscale. In particular, in these experiments we studied the fluctuations of the thermodynamic properties of a single optically-trapped…
The study of thermal heat engines was pivotal to establishing the principles of equilibrium thermodynamics, with implications far wider than only engine optimization. For nonequilibrium systems, which by definition dissipate energy even at…
We study two different models of optomechanical systems where a temperature gradient between two radiation baths is exploited for inducing self-sustained coherent oscillations of a mechanical resonator. Viewed from a thermodynamic…
We provide a unified thermodynamic formalism describing information transfers in autonomous as well as nonautonomous systems described by stochastic thermodynamics. We demonstrate how information is continuously generated in an auxiliary…
Thermodynamics of nanoscale devices is an active area of research. Despite their noisy surround- ing they often produce mechanical work (e.g. micro-heat engines) or display rectified Brownian motion (e.g. molecular motors). This invokes the…
In the present paper, we study the power output and efficiency of overdamped stochastic thermodynamic engines that are in contact with a heat bath having a temperature that varies periodically with time. This is in contrast to most of the…
Stochastic thermodynamics as reviewed here systematically provides a framework for extending the notions of classical thermodynamics like work, heat and entropy production to the level of individual trajectories of well-defined…
Thermodynamics is traditionally concerned with systems comprised of a large number of particles. Here we present a framework for extending thermodynamics to individual quantum systems, including explicitly a thermal bath and work-storage…
We propose a concept of autonomous energy transducer at a molecular scale, where output is produced with small input energy, of the same order of the thermal energy, without restriction of magnitude or timing of input, and without any…
We study the 1-d isotropic Heisenberg model of two spin-1/2 systems as a quantum heat engine. The engine undergoes a four-step Otto cycle where the two adiabatic branches involve changing the external magnetic field at a fixed value of the…