Quantum Otto Heat Engine Research Articles

Coherence effects in the performance of the quantum Otto heat engine

The working substance fueling a quantum heat engine may contain coherence in its energy basis, depending on the dynamics of the engine cycle. In some models of quantum Otto heat engines, energy coherence has been associated with entropy production and quantum friction. We considered a quantum Otto heat engine operating at finite time. Coherence is generated and the working substance does not reach thermal equilibrium after interacting with the hot heat reservoir, leaving the working substance in a state with residual energy coherence. We observe an interference-like effect between the residual coherence (after the incomplete thermalization) and the coherence generated in the subsequent finite-time stroke. We introduce analytical expressions highlighting the role of coherence and examine how this dynamical interference effect influences the engine performance. Additionally, in this scenario in which coherence is present along the cycle, we argue that the careful tuning of the cycle parameters may exploit this interference effect and make coherence acts like a dynamical quantum lubricant. To illustrate this, we numerically consider an experimentally feasible example and compare the engine performance to the performance of a similar engine where the residual coherence is completely erased, ruling out the dynamical interference effect.

Bose-Fermi duality in a quantum Otto heat engine with trapped repulsive bosons

Quantum heat engine with ideal gas has been well studied, yet the role of interaction was seldom explored. We construct a quantum Otto heat engine with N repulsive Bosonic particles in a 1D hard wall box. With the advantage of exact solution using Bethe Ansatz, we obtain not only the exact numerical result of efficiency in all interacting strength c, but also analytical results for strong interaction. We find the efficiency \eta recovers to the one of non-interacting case $\eta_{\mathrm{non}}=1-(L_{1}/L_{2})^{2}$ for strong interaction with asympotic behavior $\eta\sim\eta_{\mathrm{non}}-4(N-1)L_{1}\left(L_{2}-L_{1}\right)/(cL_{2}^{3})$. Here, $L_{1}$ and $L_{2}$ are two trap sizes during the cycle. Such recovery reflects the duality between 1D strongly repulsive Bosons and free Fermion. We observe and explain the appearance of a minimum efficiency at a particular interacting strength c, and study its dependence on the temperature.

Finite time thermodynamic analysis of quantum Otto heat engine with squeezed thermal bath

We investigate the finite time performance of reciprocating quantum Otto heat engine coupled to squeezed hot reservoir. We emphasize the converged limit cycle where each stroke is performed in finite time. To fully exploit the quantum availability provided by the squeezed bath, an optimal frequency protocol in the work extraction stroke is explicitly proposed. The power output is optimized with respect to the hot and cold isochore times. Thermodynamic analysis shows that for a wide range of squeezing parameters, efficiency at maximum power exceeds the generalized Curzon–Ahlborn efficiency defined by the effective temperature of the squeezed bath.

Multilevel quantum Otto heat engines with identical particles

A quantum Otto heat engine is studied with multilevel identical particles trapped in one-dimensional box potential as working substance. The symmetrical wave function for Bosons and the anti-symmetrical wave function for Fermions are considered. In two-particle case, we focus on the ratios of $W^i$ ($i=B,F$) to $W_s$, where $W^B$ and $W^F$ are the work done by two Bosons and Fermions respectively, and $W_s$ is the work output of a single particle under the same conditions. Due to the symmetric of the wave functions, the ratios are not equal to $2$. Three different regimes, low temperature regime, high temperature regime, and intermediate temperature regime, are analyzed, and the effects of energy level number and the differences between the two baths are calculated. In the multiparticle case, we calculate the ratios of $W^i_M/M$ to $W_s$, where $W^i_M/M$ can be seen as the average work done by a single particle in multiparticle heat engine. For other working substances whose energy spectrum have the form of $E_n\sim n^2$, the results are similar. For the case $E_n\sim n$, two different conclusions are obtained.

Quantum Otto heat engine with three-qubit [formula omitted] model as working substance

A quantum Otto heat engine is established with a three-qubit Heisenberg XXZ model with Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya (DM) interaction under a homogeneous magnetic field as the working substance. The quantum Otto engine is composed of two quantum isochoric processes and two quantum adiabatic processes. Here we have restricted Bc∕Bh=Jc∕Jh=r in the two adiabatic processes, where r is the adiabatic compression ratio. The work output and efficiency are calculated for our cycle. The possible adiabatic compression ratios and the ratios of work output between our working substance and a single spin under the same external conditions in the Otto cycle are analyzed with different DM interaction parameters and anisotropic parameters. The effects of pairwise entanglements on the heat engine efficiency are discussed.

Entangled quantum Otto heat engines based on two-spin systems with the Dzyaloshinski–Moriya interaction

We construct an entangled quantum Otto engine based on spin-1/2 systems undergoing Dzyaloshinski-Moriya (DM) interaction within a varying magnetic field. We investigate the influence of the DM interaction on basic thermodynamic quantities, including heat transfer, work done, and efficiency and find that the DM interaction importantly influences the engine's thermodynamics. We obtain an expression for engine efficiency, finding it to yield the same efficiency for antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic coupling. A new upper bound, nontrivially consistent with the second law of thermodynamics, is derived for engine efficiency in the case of non-zero DM interaction.

Entangled quantum Otto and quantum Stirling heat engine based on two-spin systems with Dzyaloshinski-Moriya interaction

Recently, the influences of the Dzyaloshinski-Moriya (DM) interaction on the performances of the basic thermo-dynamical quantities have attracted a lot of attention. A large number of investigations on the quantum coupling systems with DM interaction have been carried out. However, the specific effects of spin-orbit coupling with the performance on the quantum heat engine have not been taken into account in previous studies. DM interaction is a special kind spin-orbit coupling. To enrich the research of the quantum heat engines, the investigation about the effect of DM interaction on its thermodynamic characteristics should be included. In this study, we construct two entangled quantum engines based on spin-1/2 systems with different DM interactions, with the spin exchange constant and magnetic field fixed. The quantum Otto engine and the quantum Stirling engine are discussed in this article. By numerical calculation, we obtain the expressions for several thermodynamic quantities and plot the isoline maps of the variation of the basic thermodynamic quantities such as heat transfer, work with D1 and D2 and their efficiency in the two engines. The results indicate that the DM interaction plays an important role in the thermodynamic quantities for the quantum Otto engine and the quantum Stirling engine. In addition, the positive work condition is discussed with different DM interactions, with the spin exchange constant and magnetic field. Furthermore fixed, it is found that the efficiency of quantum Otto engine cycle is smaller than the Carnot efficiency while the quantum Stirling cycle can exceed the Carnot efficiency by using the regenerator. Finally, the second law of thermodynamics is shown to be valid in the two entangled quantum systems.

Angle-dependent quantum Otto heat engine based on coherent dipole-dipole coupling

Electromagnetic interactions between molecules or within a molecule have been widely observed in biological systems and exhibit broad application for molecular structural studies. Quantum delocalization of molecular dipole moments has inspired researchers to explore new avenues to utilize this physical effect for energy harvesting devices. Herein, we propose a simple model of the angle-dependent quantum Otto heat engine which seeks to facilitate the conversion of heat to work. Unlike previous studies, the adiabatic processes are accomplished by varying only the directions of the magnetic field. We show that the heat engine continues to generate power when the angle relative to the vector r joining the centres of coupled dipoles departs from the magic angle where the static coupling vanishes. A significant improvement in the device performance has to be attributed to the presence of the quantum delocalized levels associated with the coherent dipole-dipole coupling. These results obtained may provide a promising model for the biomimetic design and fabrication of quantum energy generators.

Quantum Otto heat engine with a non-Markovian reservoir

The effects of a non-Markovian reservoir on the performance of an ideal quantum Otto heat engine are investigated. By coupling the cavity to a hot non-Markovian reservoir, the cavity can be enabled to reach a steady state corresponding to an effective temperature higher than the temperature of the hot reservoir. This observation shows that the quantum Otto heat engine can transport heat from a cold reservoir to a hot reservoir with positive net work output under certain conditions. Also, when the temperature of the hot reservoir lies in certain regions, the efficiency of the quantum Otto heat engine can exceed the efficiency of classical Carnot heat engine.

Quantum Otto heat engine based on a multiferroic chain working substance

We study a quantum Otto engine operating on the basis of a helical spin-1/2 multiferroic chain with strongly coupled magnetic and ferroelectric order parameters. The presence of a finite spin chirality in the working substance enables steering of the cycle by an external electric field that couples to the electric polarization. We observe a direct connection between the chirality, the entanglement and the efficiency of the engine. An electric-field dependent threshold temperature is identified, above which the pair correlations in the system, as quantified by the thermal entanglement, diminish. In contrast to the pair correlations, the collective many-body thermal entanglement is less sensitive to the electric field, and in the high temperature limit converges to a constant value. We also discuss the correlations between the threshold temperature of the pair entanglement, the spin chirality and the minimum of the fidelities in relation to the electric and magnetic fields. The efficiency of the quantum Otto cycle shows a saturation plateau with increasing electric field amplitude.

Special coupled quantum Otto cycles

We study a special quantum Otto heat engine, in which the external magnetic field B and the coupling constant J are changed by the same ratios in the quantum adiabatic processes, with a composed quantum system as working substance. We find that the positive work condition and efficiency for the composed system are the same as in the case where a single spin is considered as working substance. The effects of coupling on the work output and the work relations between the total system and local subsystems are studied. We find that, under proper conditions, the local subsystems can serve as a refrigerator while the total system is a heat engine. These results can be explained and can be divided into two categories by the concept of local effective temperature. Our results can be generalized to a general coupled system.

A special entangled quantum heat engine based on the two-qubit Heisenberg XX model

We construct a special four-level entangled quantum Otto heat engine based on the two-qubit Heisenberg XX model, in which we assume that all the energy gaps are changed in the same ratio in the two quantum adiabatic processes. Hence during the whole cycle, the relative coupling constant κ = J/B is fixed, where J and B are the coupling constant and the external magnetic field, respectively. The dependence of the basic thermodynamical quantities on the two entanglements at the end of two quantum isochoric processes with different relative coupling constants κ is studied. Our results show that in the weak coupling region, i.e. κ < 1, the heat engine can be operated in both areas where c1 < c2 and c1 > c2, whereas when κ ⩾ 1, it only operates under the condition c1 < c2. Here c1 and c2 are entanglements of the working substance when it comes into contact with hot and cold baths, respectively. Moreover, we find that the maximal work output for fixed κ increases with the relative coupling constant.

Performance analysis and parametric optimum criteria of a quantum Otto heat engine with heat transfer effects

The influence of both the quantum degeneracy and the finite rate heat transfer between the working substance and the cylinder wall on the optimal performance of an Otto engine cycle is investigated. Expressions for several important parameters such as the power output and efficiency are derived. By using numerical solutions, the curves of the power output and efficiency varying with the compression ratio of two isochoric processes are presented. It is found that there are optimal values of the compression ratio at which the power output and efficiency attain their maximum. In particular, the optimal performance of the cycle in strong and weak gas degeneracy and the high temperature limit are discussed in detail. The distinctions and connections between the quantum Otto engine and the classical are revealed. Moreover, the maximum power output and efficiency and the corresponding relevant parameters are calculated, and consequently, the optimization criteria of some important parameters such as the power output, efficiency and compression ratio of the working substance are obtained.

Quantum thermodynamic cycles and quantum heat engines

In order to describe quantum heat engines, here we systematically study isothermal and isochoric processes for quantum thermodynamic cycles. Based on these results the quantum versions of both the Carnot heat engine and the Otto heat engine are defined without ambiguities. We also study the properties of quantum Carnot and Otto heat engines in comparison with their classical counterparts. Relations and mappings between these two quantum heat engines are also investigated by considering their respective quantum thermodynamic processes. In addition, we discuss the role of Maxwell's demon in quantum thermodynamic cycles. We find that there is no violation of the second law, even in the existence of such a demon, when the demon is included correctly as part of the working substance of the heat engine.