Related papers: Optimizing the classical heat engine

We show that entanglement can be utilized to extract thermodynamic work beyond classical correlation via feedback control based on measurement on part of a composite system. The net work gain due to entanglement is determined by the change…

Optimization analyses of thermoelectric generators operation is of importance both for practical applications and theoretical considerations. Depending on the desired goal, two different strategies are possible to achieve high performance:…

Heat engines that convert thermal energy into work are a cornerstone of classical thermodynamics and remain an active area of contemporary research. Notable examples include microscopic heat engines, trade-off relations between power and…

For heat engines working between two heat baths, functionality is often conditioned on a set of fixed constraints such as given internal structure of the engine and given temperatures for the baths. It is, however, important to devise heat…

Describing the thermodynamic properties of quantum systems far from equilibrium is challenging, in particular when the system is strongly coupled to its environment, or when memory effects cannot be neglected. Here, we address such regimes…

When a reciprocating heat engine is started it eventually settles to a stable mode of operation. The approach of a first principle quantum heat engine toward this stable limit cycle is studied. The engine is based on a working medium…

We investigate maximum efficiency at a given power for low-dissipation heat engines. Close to maximum power, the maximum gain in efficiency scales as a square root of relative loss in power and this scaling is universal for a broad class of…

Work extraction from a heat engine in a cycle by a quantum mechanical device (quantum "piston") is analyzed. The standard definition of work fails in the quantum domain. The correct extractable work and its efficiency bound are shown to…

A new universality in optimization of trade-off between power and efficiency for low-dissipation Carnot cycles is presented. It is shown that any trade-off measure expressible in terms of efficiency and the ratio of power to its maximum…

We introduce a simple two-level heat engine to study the efficiency in the condition of the maximum power output, depending on the energy levels from which the net work is extracted. In contrast to the quasi-statically operated Carnot…

Classical engines turn thermal resources into work, which is maximized for reversible operations. The quantum realm has expanded the range of useful operations beyond energy conversion, and incoherent resources beyond thermal reservoirs.…

In this study, the minimum amount of work needed to drive a thermodynamic system from one initial distribution to another in a given time duration is discussed. Equivalently, for given amount of work, the minimum time duration required to…

The efficiency of macroscopic heat engines is restricted by the second law of thermodynamics. They can reach at most the efficiency of a Carnot engine. In contrast, heat currents in mesoscopic heat engines show fluctuations. Thus, there is…

We study the non-equilibrium thermodynamics of a heat engine operating between two finite-sized reservoirs with well-defined temperatures. Within the linear response regime, it is found that the uniform temperature of the two reservoirs at…

Equalities are generally more suitable for experimental verification than inequalities. In this work, I derive valid equalities from the Euler-Lagrange equation for the optimization of macroscopic thermodynamic averages in weakly driven…

The process of thermalization in many-body systems is driven by complex interactions among sub-systems and with the surrounding environment. Here we lay the theoretical foundations for the active control of local thermal states in arbitrary…

How much work can be extracted from a heat bath using a thermal machine? The study of this question has a very long tradition in statistical physics in the weak-coupling limit, applied to macroscopic systems. However, the assumption that…

The limit of small entropy production is reached in relaxing systems long after preparation, and in stationary driven systems in the limit of small driving power. Surprisingly, for extended systems this limit is not in general the…

Chemical processes in closed systems are poorly controllable since they always relax to equilibrium. Living systems avoid this fate and give rise to a much richer diversity of phenomena by operating under nonequilibrium conditions. Recent…

In this note, the equilibrium curve of a thermodynamic system is used to depict entropy production in the process of thermalization with a reservoir. For the given initial and final equilibrium states of the system, the entropy production…