Quantum statistics and the performance of engine cycles.

Abstract

We study the role of quantum statistics in the performance of Otto cycles. First, we show analytically that the work distributions for bosonic and fermionic working fluids are identical for cycles driven by harmonic trapping potentials. Subsequently, in the case of nonharmonic potentials, we find that the interplay between different energy level spacings and particle statistics strongly affects the performances of the engine cycle. To demonstrate this, we examine three trapping potentials which induce different (single-particle) energy level spacings: monotonically decreasing with the level number, monotonically increasing, and the case in which the level spacing does not vary monotonically.