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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…
We analyze the steady-state formalism for optimizing the cooling power of a thermoelectric refrigerator (TER), unifying the endoreversible and exoreversible approximations within one framework. Although the cooling power is non-optimizable…
The efficient conversion of thermal energy to mechanical work by a heat engine is an ongoing technological challenge. Since the pioneering work of Carnot, it is known that the efficiency of heat engines is bounded by a fundamental upper…
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.…
We study the performance of a three-terminal thermoelectric device such as heat engine and refrigerator with broken time-reversal symmetry by applying the unified trade-off figure of merit ($\dot{\Omega}$ criterion) which accounts for both…
An implementation of quantum absorption chillers with three qubits has been recently proposed, that is ideally able to reach the Carnot performance regime. Here we study the working efficiency of such self-contained refrigerators, adopting…
Quantum decoherence is seen as an undesired source of irreversibility that destroys quantum resources. Quantum coherences seem to be a property that vanishes at thermodynamic equilibrium. Away from equilibrium, quantum coherences challenge…
Based on a quantum thermodynamic protocol for shortcut to isothermality that smoothly modify the system-reservoir interaction can significantly speed up an isothermal process while keeping the overall dissipation constant [Phys. Rev. X. 10,…
While Carnot's model engines demonstrate ideal performances regarding conversion efficiency, they cannot be actually used as energy converters since they are non causal systems. Such an unphysical behavior indeed restrains the working…
Heat engines should ideally have large power output, operate close to Carnot efficiency and show constancy, i.e., exhibit only small fluctuations in this output. For steady-state heat engines, driven by a constant temperature difference…
We review a series of experimental studies of the thermodynamics of nonequilibrium processes at the microscale. In particular, in these experiments we studied the fluctuations of the thermodynamic properties of a single optically-trapped…
Thermal machines are physical systems that, when fueled by input energy, perform output tasks such as heat pumping or the production of work. Their performance is characterized with several, often competing quantities, such as power,…
We consider thermal relaxation process of a quantum system attached to a single or multiple reservoirs. Quantifying the degree of irreversibility by entropy production, we prove that the irreversibility of the thermal relaxation is…
We discussed the criterion for usefully comparing an irreversible cycle with a reversible one, and show that the lost work cannot be determined by the usual cycle diagrams, contrary to what has been found in the literature. To better…
We apply the model of minimally nonlinear irreversible heat engines developed by Izumida and Okuda [EPL {\bf 97}, 10004 (2012)] to refrigerators. The model assumes extended Onsager relations including a new nonlinear term accounting for…
For a general thermodynamic system described as a Markov process, we prove a general lower bound for dissipation in terms of the square of the heat current, thus establishing that nonvanishing current inevitably implies dissipation. This…
The efficiency at maximum power has been investigated extensively, yet the practical control scheme to achieve it remains elusive. We fill such gap with a stepwise Carnot-like cycle, which consists the discrete isothermal process (DIP) and…
Sequential (or collisional) engines have been put forward as an alternative candidate for the realisation of reliable engine setups. Despite this, the role of the different stages and the influence of the intermediate reservoirs is not well…
The minimal-coupling quantum heat engine is a thermal machine consisting of an explicit energy storage system, heat baths, and a working body, which alternatively couples to subsystems through discrete strokes -- energy-conserving two-body…
For many real physico-chemical complex systems detailed mechanism includes both reversible and irreversible reactions. Such systems are typical in homogeneous combustion and heterogeneous catalytic oxidation. Most complex enzyme reactions…