Bath engineering enhanced quantum critical engines

Abstract

Driving a quantum system across quantum critical points leads to non-adiabatic excitations in the system. This in turn may adversely affect the functioning of a quantum machine which uses a quantum critical substance as its working medium. Here we propose a bath-engineered quantum engine (BEQE), in which we use the Kibble--Zurek mechanism and critical scaling laws to formulate a protocol for enhancing the performance of finite-time quantum engines operating close to quantum phase transitions. In the case of free fermionic systems, BEQE enables finite-time engines to outperform engines operating in the presence of shortcuts to adiabaticity, and even infinite-time engines under suitable conditions, thus showing the remarkable advantages offered by this technique. Open questions remain regarding the use of BEQE based on non-integrable models.

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• A Quantum Otto Engine with Shortcuts to Thermalization and Adiabaticity
• Thermodynamic geometry of ideal quantum gases: a general framework and a geometric picture of BEC-enhanced heat engines
• The promises and challenges of many-body quantum technologies: a focus on quantum engines
• Quantum critical engine at finite temperatures
• Improving Performance of Quantum Heat Engines using modified Otto cycle
• Shortcuts to adiabaticity in open quantum critical systems