Related papers: Work performed by a Classical-"reversible"-Carnot …
Periodically driven quantum dots can act as counterparts of cyclic thermal machines at the nanoscale. In the slow-driving regime of geometric pumping, such machines have been shown to operate in analogy to a Carnot cycle. For larger driving…
In this work we analyze the deviations of reversible cycles (for both heat engines and refrigerators) from the corresponding Carnot cycle operating between the same extreme temperatures and deviations of irreversible cycles from its…
We introduce a general framework for deriving effective dynamics from arbitrary time-dependent generators, based on a systematic operator cumulant expansion. Unlike traditional approaches, which typically assume periodic or adiabatic…
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…
In the thermodynamics of nanoscopic systems the relation between classical and quantum mechanical description is of particular importance. To scrutinize this correspondence we study an anharmonic oscillator driven by a periodic external…
We consider damped stochastic systems in a controlled (time-varying) quadratic potential and study their transition between specified Gibbs-equilibria states in finite time. By the second law of thermodynamics, the minimum amount of work…
A recent paper by Gislason published in Am. J. Phys. deals with the celebrated example of the so-called "adiabatic piston", a system involving two ideal gases contained in a horizontal cylinder and separated by an insulating piston that…
We discovered an out-of-equilibrium transition in the ideal gas between two walls, divided by an inner, adiabatic, movable wall. The system is driven out-of-equilibrium by supplying energy directly into the volume of the gas. At critical…
We propose a simple theoretical model for a molecular chemical engine that catalyzes a chemical reaction and converts the free energy released by the reaction into mechanical work. Binding and unbinding processes of reactant and product…
Carnot established in 1824 that the efficiency of cyclic engines operating between a hot bath at absolute temperature $T_{hot}$ and a bath at a lower temperature $T_{cold}$ cannot exceed $1-T_{cold}/T_{hot}$. We show that linear oscillators…
Optimizing the performance of thermal machines is an essential task of thermodynamics. We here consider the optimization of information engines that convert information about the state of a system into work. We concretely introduce a…
We study the probabilistic behaviour of the continued fraction expansion of a quadratic irrational number, when weighted by some "additive" cost. We prove asymptotic Gaussian limit laws, with an optimal speed of convergence. We deal with…
We propose an arbitrary driven spin as the working fluid of a quantum Otto cycle in the presence of internal friction. The role of total allocated time to the adiabatic branches of the cycle, generated by different control field profiles,…
The efficiency at maximum power output of linear irreversible Carnot-like heat engines is investigated based on the assumption that the rate of irreversible entropy production of working substance in each "isothermal" process is a quadratic…
Because of its nonequilibrium character, active matter in a steady state can drive engines that autonomously deliver work against a constant mechanical force or torque. As a generic model for such an engine, we consider systems that contain…
Isolated mechanical systems -- e.g., those floating in space, in free-fall, or on a frictionless surface -- are able to achieve net rotation by cyclically changing their shape, even if they have no net angular momentum. Similarly, swimmers…
Since its inception about two centuries ago thermodynamics has sparkled continuous interest and fundamental questions. According to the second law no heat engine can have an efficiency larger than Carnot's efficiency. The latter can be…
Entropy change in the Carnot cycle is discussed. In particular, the isentropic change in the adiabatic expansion (or compression) is reinvestigated.
Compressible flow varies from ideal-gas behavior at high pressures where molecular interactions become important. Density is described through a cubic equation of state while enthalpy and sound speed are functions of both temperature and…
We investigate the work dissipated during the irreversible unfolding of single molecules by mechanical force, using the simplest model necessary to represent experimental data. The model consists of two levels (folded and unfolded states)…