Impurity reveals distinct operational phases in quantum thermodynamic cycles
arXiv:2207.02638 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.106.054112
Abstract
We analyze the effect of impurity on the work output and efficiency of quantum Otto and quantum Carnot heat cycles, modeled as a single quantum particle in an infinite square well (ISW) potential, which is the working substance. We solve this quantum mechanical system perturbatively up to first and second order in strength of the impurity for strong and weak coupling regimes, respectively. We derive the analytical expressions of work and efficiency for the strong coupling regime to the first order in the strength parameter. The threshold value of the strength parameter in weak coupling is obtained up to which the numerical result agrees with the perturbative result for a repulsive and attractive impurity. To our surprise, an embedded impurity unlocks new operational phases in the system, such as a quantum heat engine, quantum refrigerator, and quantum cold pump. In addition, the efficiency of the quantum Otto heat engine is seen to reach Carnot efficiency for some parameter regimes. The cooling power and coefficient of performance of the quantum refrigerator and quantum cold pump are non-trivially affected by the impurity.
arXiv comment15 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. E
References in corpus (22)
- Quantum Thermodynamic Cycles and quantum heat engines
- Quantum mechanical Carnot engine
- Quantum Szilard Engine
- Quantum engine efficiency bound beyond the second law of thermodynamics
- Quantum Thermodynamic Cycles and Quantum Heat Engines (II)
- Quantum Heat Engine With Multi-Level Quantum Systems
- Efficiency of a quantum Otto heat engine operating under a reservoir at effective negative temperatures
- Superradiant Quantum Heat Engine
- A spin based heat engine: demonstration of multiple rounds of algorithmic cooling
- Entropy and Temperature of a Quantum Carnot Engine
- Quantum heat engine in the relativistic limit: The case of a Dirac particle
- Single-atom heat machines enabled by energy quantization
- Quantum heat engine based on level degeneracy
- Two Coupled Double Quantum Dots Systems as an working substance for Heat Machines
- Measurement Based Quantum Heat Engine with Coupled Working Medium
- Optimization of a relativistic quantum mechanical engine
- Strained graphene based highly efficient quantum heat engine operating at maximum power
- Topological Phase Transition in Quantum Heat Engine Cycles
- Particle in a box with a delta-function potential: strong and weak coupling limits
- Quantum heat engine with continuum working medium
- Perturbative and non-perturbative studies with the delta function potential
- Josephson quantum spin thermodynamics