Related papers: Minimal Work Principle and its Limits for Classica…
The minimum entropy production principle provides an approximative variational characterization of close-to-equilibrium stationary states, both for macroscopic systems and for stochastic models. Analyzing the fluctuations of the empirical…
It has been established that the inclusive work for classical, Hamiltonian dynamics is equivalent to the two-time energy measurement paradigm in isolated quantum systems. However, a plethora of other notions of quantum work has emerged, and…
The Jarzynski equality (JE) is analyzed in regard to its validity for both quasi-static transformations in the thermodynamic limit and Hamiltonian evolutions of the work protocol. In the first case, we show that the JE holds for isothermal…
We introduce a class of probabilistic theories, termed Minimal Strongly Causal Operational Probabilistic Theories, where system dynamics are constrained to the minimal set of operations consistent with the set of states and permitting…
It is well known that ergodic theory can be used to formally prove a weak form of relaxation to equilibrium for finite, mixing, Hamiltonian systems. In this Letter we extend this proof to any dynamics that preserves a mixing equilibrium…
Information-theoretic approaches provide a promising avenue for extending the laws of thermodynamics to the nanoscale. Here, we provide a general fundamental lower limit, valid for systems with an arbitrary Hamiltonian and in contact with…
The least action principle occupies a central part in contemporary physics. Yet, as far as classical field theory is concerned, it may not be as essential as generally thought. We show with three detailed examples of classical interacting…
We consider the task of extracting work from quantum systems in the resource theory perspective of thermodynamics, where free states are arbitrary thermal states, and allowed operations are energy conserving unitary transformations. Taking…
The objective of this work is to show that adiabatic processes can be very similar to isothermal ones. First, we show that the criteria for the compatibility of linear-response theory with the Second Law of Thermodynamics for thermally…
According to classical Boltzmannian thermodynamics, the efficiency of a cyclic machine is strictly lower than one. Such a result is a straightforward consequence of the second principle of thermodynamics. Recent advances in the study of the…
In traditional thermodynamics the Carnot cycle yields the ideal performance bound of heat engines and refrigerators. We propose and analyze a minimal model of a heat machine that can play a similar role in quantum regimes. The minimal model…
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…
Following recent work by Marathe and Parrondo [PRL, 104, 245704 (2010)], we construct a classical Hamiltonian system whose energy is reduced during the adiabatic cycling of external parameters, when initial conditions are sampled…
Two approaches are outlined to characterize the fluctuation behavior of work applied to a system by a slow change of a parameter. One approach uses the adiabatic theorems of quantum and classical mechanics, the other one is based on the…
We consider the wide class of few-particle systems that have some analog of the thermodynamic laws. These systems are characterized by the distributions that are determined by the Hamiltonian and satisfy the Liouville equation. Few-particle…
In recent years we have witnessed a concentrated effort to make sense of thermodynamics for small-scale systems. One of the main difficulties is to capture a suitable notion of work that models realistically the purpose of quantum machines,…
We use the work done on and the heat removed from a system to maintain it in a nonequilibrium steady state for a thermodynamic-like description of such a system as well as of its fluctuations. Based on a generalized Onsager-Machlup theory…
Fluctuation theorems are fundamental extensions of the second law of thermodynamics for small nonequilibrium systems. While work and heat are equally important forms of energy exchange, fluctuation relations have not been experimentally…
We propose a new form of the Second Law inequality that defines a tight bound for extractable work from the non-equilibrium quantum state. In classical thermodynamics, the optimal work is given by the difference of free energy, what…
Quantum dynamics controlled by a time-dependent coupling constant are studied. It is proven that an energy eigenstate expectation value of work done by the system in a quench process cannot exceed the work in the corresponding quasi-static…