Abstract
We consider thermal machines powered by locally equilibrium reservoirs that share classical or quantum correlations. The reservoirs are modelled by the so-called collisional model or repeated interactions model. In our framework, two reservoir particles, initially prepared in a thermal state, are correlated through a unitary transformation and afterwards interact locally with the two quantum subsystems which form the working fluid. For a particular class of unitaries, we show how the transformation applied to the reservoir particles affects the amount of heat transferred and the work produced. We then compute the distribution of heat and work when the unitary is chosen randomly, proving that the total swap transformation is the optimal one. Finally, we analyse the performance of the machines in terms of classical and quantum correlations established among the microscopic constituents of the machine.
Highlights
The interest in thermal machines powered by quantum working media has recently surged thanks to the technological advancement in the realization and control of individual quanta [1,2,3,4,5,6]
We have proposed a general framework to model quantum thermal machines in contact with correlated reservoirs using repeated interactions
Different conclusions are found depending on whether we assume the partial or the complete scenario, the latter one being always consistent with the laws of thermodynamics
Summary
The interest in thermal machines powered by quantum working media has recently surged thanks to the technological advancement in the realization and control of individual quanta [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Our setup, depicted, consists of a working medium made of two quantum systems S1 and S2 Each of these is in contact with a reservoir modeled by the repeated interaction of flying auxiliary particles. We study the steady state of the system after many collisions with the flying particles Such a microscopic model has the advantage that all thermodynamic contributions, e.g., energy, heat, work and entropy, are accountable and that it is consistent with the laws of thermodynamics [42,43,59]. We find that the extremal points of the distribution correspond to eight noncorrelating unitaries with the optimal one corresponding to the complete two-qubit swap In this context, we analyze the quantum and classical correlations established among the quantum constituents of our setup.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
