Thermodynamics and performance optimization of an open quantum engine

Abstract

We start from the well-established methods to describe interactions between two standard quantum systems coupled to heat baths. We establish and work through the description of a regularly constructed dynamic formalism. The insight appears to come from considering the heat flow in the system, which allows us to evaluate a thermodynamic efficiency. It is found that this efficiency can take widely different values as the coupling strength is varied. In particular, our study gives insight into the engine vanishing power output problem and shows quantitative agreement between predictive theory and experiment.