Quasi-autonomous quantum thermal machines and quantum to classical energy flow
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Frenzel, MF
Jennings, D
Rudolph, T
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
There are both practical and foundational motivations to consider the thermodynamics of quantum
systems at small scales. Here we address the issue of autonomous quantum thermal machines
that are tailored to achieve some specific thermodynamic primitive, such as work extraction in the
presence of a thermal environment, while having minimal or no control from the macroscopic regime.
Beyond experimental implementations, this provides an arena in which to address certain foundational
aspects such as the role of coherence in thermodynamics, the use of clock degrees of freedom
and the simulation of local time-dependent Hamiltonians in a particular quantum subsystem. For
small-scale systems additional issues arise. Firstly, it is not clear to what degree genuine ordered
thermodynamic work has been extracted, and secondly non-trivial back-actions on the thermal machine
must be accounted for. We find that both these aspects can be resolved through a judicious
choice of quantum measurements that magnify thermodynamic properties up the ladder of lengthscales,
while simultaneously stabilizing the quantum thermal machine. Within this framework we
show that thermodynamic reversibility is obtained in a particular Zeno limit, and finally illustrate
these concepts with a concrete example involving spin-systems.
systems at small scales. Here we address the issue of autonomous quantum thermal machines
that are tailored to achieve some specific thermodynamic primitive, such as work extraction in the
presence of a thermal environment, while having minimal or no control from the macroscopic regime.
Beyond experimental implementations, this provides an arena in which to address certain foundational
aspects such as the role of coherence in thermodynamics, the use of clock degrees of freedom
and the simulation of local time-dependent Hamiltonians in a particular quantum subsystem. For
small-scale systems additional issues arise. Firstly, it is not clear to what degree genuine ordered
thermodynamic work has been extracted, and secondly non-trivial back-actions on the thermal machine
must be accounted for. We find that both these aspects can be resolved through a judicious
choice of quantum measurements that magnify thermodynamic properties up the ladder of lengthscales,
while simultaneously stabilizing the quantum thermal machine. Within this framework we
show that thermodynamic reversibility is obtained in a particular Zeno limit, and finally illustrate
these concepts with a concrete example involving spin-systems.
Date Issued
2016-02-10
Date Acceptance
2015-12-01
Citation
New Journal of Physics, 2016, 18
ISSN
1367-2630
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Journal / Book Title
New Journal of Physics
Volume
18
Copyright Statement
© 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Sponsor
The Royal Society
Grant Number
UF120309
Subjects
Quantum physics
Condensed matter
Fluids & Plasmas
Physical Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
023037