Entropy current and efficiency of quantum machines driven by nonequilibrium incoherent reservoirs

Abstract

Nanotechnology has not only provided us the possibility of developing quantum machines but also noncanonical power sources able to drive them. Here we focus on studying the performance of quantum machines driven by arbitrary combinations of equilibrium reservoirs and a form of engineered reservoirs consisting of noninteracting particles but whose distribution functions are nonthermal. We provide the expressions for calculating the maximum efficiency of those machines without needing any knowledge of how the nonequilibrium reservoirs were actually made. The formulas require the calculation of a quantity that we term entropy current, which we also derive. We illustrate our methodology through a solvable toy model where heat "spontaneously" flows against the temperature gradient.

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• Charge, spin, and heat shot noises in the absence of average currents: Conditions on bounds at zero and finite frequencies
• Autonomous demon exploiting heat and information at the trajectory level
• Constraints between entropy production and its fluctuations in nonthermal engines
• All-thermal reversal of heat currents using qutrits
• Quantum thermocouples: nonlocal conversion and control of heat in nanostructures
• Current-induced forces in single-resonance systems
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• Illusory cracks in the second law of thermodynamics in quantum nanoelectronics
• Precision of an autonomous demon exploiting nonthermal resources and information