Related papers: Optimal finite-time processes in stochastic thermo…
We study the thermodynamic cost associated with the erasure of one bit of information over a finite amount of time. We present a general framework for minimizing the average work required when full control of a system's microstates is…
This thesis is devoted to the study of physical systems embedded within the field of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. Specifically, the state of the systems of interest constitutes a stochastic process that can be externally driven by…
Systems that are driven by a randomly timed, external protocol can seemingly violate the second law of thermodynamics. We show that this thermodynamic paradox is resolved if the outcome of the random time is stored in a memory device.…
Quantum technologies will ultimately require manipulating many-body quantum systems with high precision. Cold atom experiments represent a stepping stone in that direction: a high degree of control has been achieved on systems of increasing…
For two canonical examples of driven mesoscopic systems - a harmonically-trapped Brownian particle and a quantum dot - we numerically determine the finite-time protocols that optimize the compromise between the standard deviation and the…
According to the second law of thermodynamics, for every transformation performed on a system which is in contact with an environment of fixed temperature, the extracted work is bounded by the decrease of the free energy of the system.…
Accelerating controlled thermodynamic processes requires an auxiliary Hamiltonian to steer the system into instantaneous equilibrium states. An extra energy cost is inevitably needed in such finite-time operation. We recently develop a…
Statistical thermodynamics delivers the probability distribution of the equilibrium state of matter through the constrained maximization of a special functional, entropy. Its elegance and enormous success have led to numerous attempts to…
Biological and engineered systems operate by coupling function to the transfer of heat and/or particles down a thermal or chemical gradient. In idealized \textit{deterministically} driven systems, thermodynamic control can be exerted…
Physical systems driven away from equilibrium by an external controller dissipate heat to the environment; the excess entropy production in the thermal reservoir can be interpreted as a "cost" to transform the system in a finite time. The…
We derive an equality for non-equilibrium statistical mechanics in finite-dimensional quantum systems. The equality concerns the worst-case work output of a time-dependent Hamiltonian protocol in the presence of a Markovian heat bath. It…
How much free energy is irreversibly lost during a thermodynamic process? For deterministic protocols, lower bounds on energy dissipation arise from the thermodynamic friction associated with pushing a system out of equilibrium in finite…
The Higgs RNA-Model is studied in regard to finite-time driving protocols with minimal-work requirement. In this paper, RNA sequences which at low temperature exhibits hairpins are considered, which are often cited as typical template…
The piston system (particles in a box) is the simplest and paradigmatic model in traditional thermodynamics. However, the recently established framework of stochastic thermodynamics (ST) fails to apply to this model system due to the…
Extracting useful work from quantum systems is a fundamental problem in quantum thermodynamics. In scenarios where rapid protocols are desired -- whether due to practical constraints or deliberate design choices -- a fundamental trade-off…
A thermodynamic system is driven into a nonequilibrium condition when a time-dependent force or a nonconservative force represented by a protocol $\lambda(t)$ is applied. Such a system is time irreversible in the sense that the motion under…
We present a stylized model of controlled equilibration of a small system in a fluctuating environment. We derive the equations governing the optimal control steering \emph{in finite time} the system between two equilibrium states. The…
Recent understanding of the thermodynamics of small-scale systems have enabled the characterization of the thermodynamic requirements of implementing quantum processes for fixed input states. Here, we extend these results to construct…
At present, the problem to steer a non-Markovian process with minimum energy between specified end-point marginal distributions remains unsolved. Herein, we consider the special case for a non-Markovian process y(t) which, however, assumes…
In the paradigm of thermodynamic computing, instead of behaving deterministically, hardware undergoes a stochastic process in order to sample from a distribution of interest. While it has been hypothesized that thermodynamic computers may…