Related papers: Fluctuations in heat engines
The second law of thermodynamics, formulated as an ultimate bound on the maximum extractable work, has been rigorously derived in multiple scenarios. However, the unavoidable limitations that emerge due to the lack of control on small…
Mesoscopic thermoelectric heat engine is much anticipated as a device that allows us to utilize with high efficiency wasted heat inaccessible by conventional heat engines. However, the derivation of the heat current in this engine seems to…
Sadi Carnot's theorem regarding the maximum efficiency of heat engines is considered to be of fundamental importance in thermodynamics. This theorem famously states that the maximum efficiency depends only on the temperature of the heat…
We derive the general probability distribution function of stochastic work for quantum Otto engines in which both the isochoric and driving processes are irreversible due to finite time duration. The time-dependent power fluctuations,…
We consider a reversal of the magnetic moment of a nano-magnet by the fluctuating spin-torque induced by a non-equilibrium current of electron spins. This is an example of the problem of the escape of a particle from a metastable state…
We study the efficiency fluctuations of a stochastic heat engine made of $N$ interacting unicyclic machines and undergoing a phase transition in the macroscopic limit. Depending on $N$ and on the observation time, the machine can explore…
Time-integrated quantities such as work and heat increase incessantly in time during nonequilibrium processes near steady states. In the long-time limit, the average values of work and heat become asymptotically equivalent to each other,…
In the quest for high-performance quantum thermal machines, looking for an optimal thermodynamic efficiency is only part of the issue. Indeed, at the level of quantum devices, fluctuations become extremely relevant and need to be taken into…
We present a general framework for systems which are prepared in a non-stationary non-equilibrium state in the absence of any perturbation, and which are then further driven through the application of a time-dependent perturbation. We…
We study universal aspects of fluctuations in an ensemble of noninteracting continuous quantum thermal machines in the steady state limit. Considering an individual machine, such as a refrigerator, in which relative fluctuations (and high…
We develop non-equilibrium theory by using averages in time and space as a generalized way to upscale thermodynamics in non-ergodic systems. The approach offers a classical perspective on the energy dynamics in fluctuating systems. The rate…
The classical thermodynamic laws fail to capture the behavior of systems with energy Hamiltonian which is an explicit function of the temperature. Such Hamiltonian arises, for example, in modeling information processing systems, like…
In a macroscopic (quantum or classical) Hamiltonian system, we prove the second law of thermodynamics in the forms of the minimum work principle and the law of entropy increase, under the assumption that the initial state is described by a…
The characteristic function for the joint measurement of the changes of two commuting observables upon an external forcing of a quantum system is derived. In particular, the statistics of the internal energy, the exchanged heat and the work…
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…
As the dimensions of physical systems approach the nanoscale, the laws of thermodynamics must be reconsidered due to the increased importance of fluctuations and quantum effects. While the statistical mechanics of small classical systems is…
The first law of thermodynamics restates the law of conservation of energy. It partitions the change in energy of a system into two pieces, heat and work. While there is no ambiguity to define heat and work in classical thermodynamics,…
We demonstrate that the Gibbs-Shannon entropy is applicable to non-equilibrium systems of any size and boundary conditions. The change in microscopic entropy can be attributed to the stochastic nature of dynamic processes and to the…
All previously derived thermodynamic fluctuation theorems (FTs) that concern multiple co-evolving systems have required that each system can only change its state during an associated pre-fixed, limited set of time intervals. However, in…
Almost a century ago, Johnson and Nyquist presented evidence of fluctuating electrical current and the governing fluctuation dissipation theorem (FDT). Whether, likewise, temperature T can fluctuate is a controversial topic and has led to…