Related papers: Minimal Work Principle and its Limits for Classica…
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…
Based only on classical Hamiltonian dynamics, we prove the maximum work principle in a system where macroscopic dynamical degrees of freedom are intrinsically coupled to microscopic degrees of freedom. Unlike recent identities between…
We extend Jarzynski's work relation and the second law of thermodynamics to a heat conducting system which is operated by an external agent. These extensions contain a new non equilibrium contribution expressed as the violation of the…
Extremal principles are fundamental in our interpretation of phenomena in nature. One of the best known examples is the second law of thermodynamics, governing most physical and chemical systems and stating the continuous increase of…
We reconsider a well-known relationship between the fluctuation theorem and the second law of thermodynamics by evaluating a probability measure-valued process. In order to establish a bridge between microscopic and macroscopic behaviors,…
The evolution of a driven quantum system is said to be adiabatic whenever the state of the system stays close to an instantaneous eigenstate of its time-dependent Hamiltonian. The celebrated quantum adiabatic theorem ensures that such pure…
We consider the micro-canonical ensemble of a classical Hamiltonian dynamical system, the Hamiltonian being parameter dependent and in the possible presence of other first integrals. We describe a thermodynamic formalism in which a 1st law…
A least action principle for damping motion has been previously proposed with a Hamiltonian and a Lagrangian containing the energy dissipated by friction. Due to the space-time nonlocality of the Lagrangian, mathematical uncertainties…
The problem of defining work done on electromagnetic field (EMF) via moving charges does not have a ready solution, because the standard Hamiltonian of EMF does not predict gauge-invariant energy changes. This limits applications of…
The second law of thermodynamics for adiabatic operations -- constraints on state transitions in closed systems under external control -- is one of the fundamental principles of thermodynamics. On the other hand, it is recently established…
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…
Quantum work fluctuation theorems are known to hold when the work is defined as the difference between the outcomes of projective measurements carried out on the Hamiltonian of the system at the initial and the final time instants of the…
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 concept of work is basic for statistical thermodynamics. To gain a fuller understanding of work and its (quantum) features, it needs to be represented as an average of a fluctuating quantity. Here I focus on the work done between two…
Originally formulated for macroscopic machines, the laws of thermodynamics were recently shown to hold for quantum systems coupled to ideal sources of work (external classical fields) and heat (systems at equilibrium). Ongoing efforts have…
Hamilton's principle of stationary action lies at the foundation of theoretical physics and is applied in many other disciplines from pure mathematics to economics. Despite its utility, Hamilton's principle has a subtle pitfall that often…
The optimization of the conversion of thermal energy into work and the minimization of dissipation for nano- and mesoscopic systems is a complex challenge because of the important role fluctuations play on the dynamics of small systems. We…
In the classical limit no work is needed to couple a system to a bath with sufficiently weak coupling strength (or with arbitrarily finite coupling strength for a linear system) at the same temperature. In the quantum domain this may be…
We present a unified and simple method for deriving work theorems for classical and quantum Hamiltonian systems, both under equilibrium conditions and in a steady state. Throughout the paper, we adopt the partitioning of the total…
The limits of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which reigns undisputed in the macroscopic world, are investigated at the mesoscopic level, corresponding to spatial dimensions of a few microns. An extremely simple isolated system, modeled…