Related papers: The problem of engines in statistical physics
The theoretical understanding of active matter, which is driven out of equilibrium by directed motion, is still fragmental and model oriented. Stochastic thermodynamics, on the other hand, is a comprehensive theoretical framework for driven…
A dynamical model of a highly efficient heat engine is proposed, where an applied temperature difference maintains the motion of particles around the circuit consisting of two asymmetric narrow channels, in one of which the current flows…
Statistical mechanics is one of the most powerful and elegant tools in the quantitative sciences. One key virtue of statistical mechanics is that it is designed to examine large systems with many interacting degrees of freedom, providing a…
After a brief historical perspective, we introduce the key notions of work and heat for quantum systems, to then apply them to quantum engines operating on quantum Otto and Carnot cycles. The irreversible and dissipative character of the…
According to the laws of thermodynamics, no heat engine can beat the efficiency of a Carnot cycle. This efficiency traditionally comes with vanishing power output and practical designs, optimized for power, generally achieve far less.…
Cavity optomechanical systems are a paradigmatic setting for the conversion of electromagnetic energy into mechanical work. Experiments with atoms coupled to cavity modes are realized in nonequilibrium conditions, described by…
Using the system-bath model Hamiltonian this thesis covers the equilibrium and out of equilibrium properties of quantum open systems. Topics included are the calculation of thermodynamical quantities of open systems, derivation of quantum…
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.…
Operational quantum stochastic thermodynamics is a recently proposed theory to study the thermodynamics of open systems based on the rigorous notion of a quantum stochastic process or quantum causal model. In there, a stochastic trajectory…
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…
The thermodynamic uncertainty relation expresses a universal trade-off between precision and entropy production, which applies in its original formulation to current observables in steady-state systems. We generalize this relation to…
The standard approach to quantum engines is based on equilibrium systems and on thermodynamic transformations between Gibbs states. However, non-equilibrium quantum systems offer enhanced experimental flexibility in the control of their…
The fundamentals of a quantum heat engine are derived from first principles. The study is based on the equation of motion of a minimum set of operators which is then used to define the state of the system. The relation between the quantum…
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,…
The laws of thermodynamics are a cornerstone for describing nanoscale and open quantum systems. However, formulating these laws for systems under continuous feedback control and under experimentally relevant conditions is challenging. In…
The area of stochastic heat engines using active particles has attracted a lot of attention recently. They have been shown to exhibit advantages over engines using passive particles. In this work, we use multiple self-propelling particles…
Present-day thermodynamics has long outgrown the initial frames of the heat-engine theory and transmuted into a rather general macroscopic method for studying kinetics of various transfer processes in their inseparable connection with the…
The nature of the behaviour of an isolated many-body quantum system periodically driven in time has been an open question since the beginning of quantum mechanics. After an initial transient, such a system is known to synchronize with the…
We discuss several ways of illustrating fundamental concepts in statistical and thermal physics by considering various models and algorithms. We emphasize the importance of replacing students' incomplete mental images by models that are…
We study the mechanical performance of quantum rotor heat engines in terms of common notions of work using two prototypical models: a mill driven by the heat flow from a hot to a cold mode, and a piston driven by the alternate heating and…