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We present a mechanism for efficiency increase in quantum heat engines containing internal energy levels that do not couple to the external work sink. The gain is achieved by using these levels to channel heat in a direction opposite to the one dictated by the Second Law. No quantum coherence, quantum correlations or ergotropy are required. A similar mechanism allows the engine to run `in reverse and still produce useful work. We illustrate these ideas using a simple quantum Otto cycle in a coupled-spin system. We find this engine also exhibits other counter-intuitive phenomenology. For example, its efficiency may increase as the temperature difference between the heat baths decreases. Conversely, it may cease to operate if the hotter bath becomes too hot, or the colder bath too cold.
The efficiency of small thermal machines is typically a fluctuating quantity. We here study the efficiency large deviation function of two exemplary quantum heat engines, the harmonic oscillator and the two-level Otto cycles. While the efficiency sta
The heat engine, a machine that extracts useful work from thermal sources, is one of the basic theoretical constructs and fundamental applications of classical thermodynamics. The classical description of a heat engine does not include coherence in i
Given a quantum heat engine that operates in a cycle that reaches maximal efficiency for a time-dependent Hamiltonian H(t) of the working substance, with overall controllable driving H(t) = g(t) H, we study the deviation of the efficiency from the op
It is known that an engine with ideal efficiency ($eta =1$ for a chemical engine and $e = e_{rm Carnot}$ for a thermal one) has zero power because a reversible cycle takes an infinite time. However, at least from a theoretical point of view, it is po