相关论文: Optimal power and efficiency of odd engines
Conversion of chemical energy into mechanical work is the fundamental mechanism of several natural phenomena at the nanoscale, like molecular machines and Brownian motors. Quantum mechanical effects are relevant for optimising these…
This paper introduces a model for the mechanical response of anisotropic soft materials undergoing large inelastic deformations. The composite is constituted by a soft isotropic matrix reinforced with stiff fibres, that can evolve…
The widely debated feasibility of thermodynamic machines achieving Carnot efficiency at finite power has been convincingly dismissed. Yet, the common wisdom that efficiency can only be optimal in the limit of infinitely-slow processes…
We consider the optimization of a finite-time Carnot engine characterized by small dissipations. We bound the power with a simple inequality and show that the optimal strategy is to perform small cycles around a given working point, which…
The investigation of optimal processes has a long history in the field of thermodynamics. It is well known that finite-time processes that minimize dissipation often exhibit discontinuities. We use a combination of numerical and analytical…
While all materials reduce their intrinsic volume under hydrostatic (uniform) compression, a select few actually \emph{expand} along one or more directions during this process of densification. As rare as it is counterintuitive, such…
In the work, a modified effective medium theory is constructed for calculating the effective properties of thermoelectric composites with different values of percolation thresholds. It is shown that even at concentrations beyond the…
The present study proposes the use of intelligent metasurfaces in the design of products, as enforcers of circular economy principles. Intelligent metasurfaces can tune their physical properties (electromagnetic, acoustic, mechanical) by…
Precise spatial manipulation of particles via optical forces is essential in many research areas, ranging from biophysics to atomic physics. Central to this effort is the challenge of designing optical systems that are optimized for…
Quantifying the flow of energy within and through fluctuating nanoscale systems poses a significant challenge to understanding microscopic biological machines. A common approach involves coarse-graining, which allows a simplified…
A cyclically operating chemical engine is considered that converts chemical energy into mechanical work. The working fluid is a gas of finite-sized spherical particles interacting through elastic hard collisions. For a generic transport law…
Producing useful electrical work in consuming chemical energy, the fuel cell have to reject heat to its surrounding. However, as it occurs for any other type of engine, this thermal energy cannot be exchanged in an isothermal way in finite…
Defects are a ubiquitous feature of ordered media. They have certain universal features, independent of the underlying physical system, reflecting their topological origins. While the topological properties of defects are robust, they…
We investigate the model of "reversible ratchet" with interacting particles, introduced by us earlier [Europhys. Lett. 84, 50009 (2008)]. We further clarify the effect of efficiency enhancement due to interaction and show that it is of…
Molecular motors convert chemical energy into mechanical work while operating in an environment dominated by Brownian motion. The aim of this paper is to explore the flow of energy between the molecular motors and its surroundings, in…
We present a new and efficient optimization method to determine the structure of disordered systems in agreement with available experimental data. Our approach permits the application of accurate electronic structure calculations within the…
The study of the response of amorphous materials to oscillatory strain is traditionally performed with many repeated cycles. We argue that it pays to consider carefully just one cycle (and may be a second), to reveal the rich physics that…
Inverse design of morphing slender structures with programmable curvature has significant applications in various engineering fields. Most existing studies formulate it as an optimization problem, which requires repeatedly solving the…
We investigate the statistical properties of fluctuations in active systems that are governed by non-symmetric responses. Both an underdamped Langevin system with an odd resistance tensor and an overdamped Langevin system with an odd…
We consider the optimization of the work output and fluctuations of a finite-time quantum Otto heat engine cycle consisting of compression and expansion work strokes of unequal duration. The asymmetry of the cycle is characterized by a…