Related papers: Energy conversion theorems for some linear steady-…
We investigate the nonlinear scattering theory for quantum systems with strong Seebeck and Peltier effects, and consider their use as heat-engines and refrigerators with finite power outputs. This article gives detailed derivations of the…
Electro-energy-reaction-diffusion systems are thermodynamically consistent continuum models for reaction-diffusion processes that account for temperature and electrostatic effects in a way that total charge and energy are conserved. The…
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…
Far-from-equilibrium thermodynamics underpins the emergence of life, but how has been a long-outstanding puzzle. Best candidate theories based on the maximum entropy production principle could not be unequivocally proven, in part due to…
Steady-state flow of an incompressible fluid in parallel pipes can simultaneously satisfy two contradictory extremum principles in the entropy production, depending on the flow conditions. For a constant total flow rate, the flow can…
Forced convection cooling is important in numerous technologies ranging from microprocessors in data centers to turbines and engines; active cooling is essential in these situations. However, active transfer of heat or thermal energy under…
It is shown that the dual to the linear programming problem that arises in constraint-based models of metabolism can be given a thermodynamic interpretation in which the shadow prices are chemical potential analogues, and the objective is…
Following up on the recently published circuit theory for thermodynamic devices, we consider networks of Thermo-Electric Converters (TECs) in stationary non-equilibrium. Assuming constant thermoelectric properties, the integration over a…
We derive an analytical expression for maximum efficiency at fixed power of heat pumps operating along a finite-time reverse Carnot cycle under the low-dissipation assumption. The result is cumbersome, but it implies simple formulas for…
Entropy production rate (EPR) is often effective to describe how a structure is self-organized in a nonequilibrium thermodynamic system. The "minimum EPR principle" is widely applicable to characterizing self-organized structures, but is…
Active matter constantly dissipates energy to power the self-propulsion of its microscopic constituents. This opens the door to designing innovative cyclic engines without any equilibrium equivalent. We offer a consistent thermodynamic…
In a glassy system different degrees of freedom have well-separated characteristic times, and are described by different temperatures. The stationary state is essentially non-equilibrium. A generalized statistical thermodynamics is…
Thermoelectric generators are particularly suitable to investigate the irreversible processes which govern the coupled transport of matter and heat in solid-state systems. We study the efficiency at maximum power in the strong coupling…
We derive an exact expression for entropy production during effusion of an ideal gas driven by momentum transfer in addition to energy and particle flux. Following the treatment in Phys. Rev. E Vol. 74, 021117 (2006), we construct a master…
It is known that an engine with ideal efficiency ($\eta =1$ for a chemical engine and $e = e_{\rm Carnot}$ for a thermal one) has zero power because a reversible cycle takes an infinite time. However, at least from a theoretical point of…
The total entropy production generated by the dynamics of an externally driven systems exchanging energy and matter with multiple reservoirs and described by a master equation is expressed as the sum of three contributions, each…
Free energy and entropy are examined in detail from the standpoint of classical thermodynamics. The approach is logically based on the fact that thermodynamic work is mediated by thermal energy through the tendency for nonthermal energy to…
So far, the efficiency of thermoelectric energy conversion remains low compared to traditional technologies, such as coal or nuclear. This low efficiency can be explained by connecting the thermoelastic properties of the electronic working…
We consider thermodynamic systems with finitely many degrees of freedom and subject to an external control action. We derive some basic results on the dependence of the relative entropy production rate on the controlling force. Applications…
We analyze a mesoscopic conductor autonomously performing a thermodynamically useful task, such as cooling or producing electrical power, in a part of the system -- the working substance -- by exploiting another terminal or set of terminals…