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We investigate how to minimize the work dissipated during nonequilibrium processes. To this end, we employ methods from linear response theory to describe slowly varying processes, i.e., processes operating within the linear regime around…
Optimal (reversible) processes in thermodynamics can be modelled as step-by-step processes, where the system is successively thermalized with respect to different Hamiltonians by an external thermal bath. However, in practice interactions…
In this work we explore the use of thermodynamic length to improve the performance of experimental protocols. In particular, we implement Landauer erasure on a driven electron level in a semiconductor quantum dot, and compare the standard…
A fundamental problem in modern thermodynamics is how a molecular-scale machine performs useful work, while operating away from thermal equilibrium without excessive dissipation. To this end, we derive a friction tensor that induces a…
We consider a class of quantum heat engines consisting of two subsystems interacting via a unitary transformation and coupled to two separate baths at different temperatures $T_h > T_c$. The purpose of the engine is to extract work due to…
We investigate a stochastic heat engine based on an over-damped particle diffusing on the positive real axis in an externally driven time-periodic log-harmonic potential. The periodic driving is composed of two isothermal and two adiabatic…
A unified thermodynamic framework for characterization of functional materials is developed. This framework encompasses linear reversible and irreversible processes with thermal, electrical, magnetic, and/or mechanical effects coupled. The…
We consider irreversible and coupled reversible-irreversible nonlinear port-Hamiltonian systems and the respective sets of thermodynamic equilibria. In particular, we are concerned with optimal state transitions and output stabilization on…
We propose an optimization strategy to control the dynamics of a stochastic system transferred from one thermal equilibrium to another and apply it experimentally to a Brownian particle in an optical trap under compression. Based on a…
The laws of thermodynamics strongly restrict the performance of thermal machines. Standard thermodynamics, initially developed for uncorrelated macroscopic systems, does not hold for microscopic systems correlated with their environments.…
Periodic driving is used to operate machines that go from standard macroscopic engines to small non-equilibrium micro-sized systems. Two classes of such systems are small heat engines driven by periodic temperature variations and molecular…
Molecular motors are in charge of almost every process in the life cycle of cells, such as protein synthesis, DNA replication, and cell locomotion, hence being of crucial importance for understanding the cellular dynamics. However, given…
We study how to achieve the ultimate power in the simplest, yet non trivial, model of a thermal machine, namely a two-level quantum system coupled to two thermal baths. Without making any prior assumption on the protocol, via optimal…
We show that the maximum extractable work (ergotropy) from a quantum many-body system is constrained by local athermality of an initial state and local entropy decrease brought about by quantum operations. The obtained universal upper bound…
Considering the paradigmatic driven Brownian motion, we perform extensive numerical analysis on the performance of optimal linear-response processes far from equilibrium. We focus on the overdamped regime where exact optimal processes are…
We establish a finite-time external field-driven quantum tricycle model. Within the framework of slow driving perturbation, the perturbation expansion of heat in powers of time can be derived during the heat exchange processes. Employing…
The Carnot heat engine sets an upper bound on the efficiency of a heat engine. As an ideal, reversible engine, a single cycle must be performed in infinite time, and so the Carnot engine has zero power. However, there is nothing in…
Stochastic thermodynamics has revolutionized our understanding of heat engines operating in finite time. Recently, numerous studies have considered the optimal operation of thermodynamic cycles acting as heat engines with a given profile in…
Active Brownian engines rectify energy from reservoirs composed of self-propelling non-equilibrium molecules into work. We consider a class of such engines based on an underdamped Brownian particle trapped in a power-law potential. The…
We perform an extensive analysis of passive as well as active micro-heat engines with different single-particle stochastic models. Using stochastic thermodynamics we calculate thermodynamic work, heat, entropy production and efficiency of…