dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaWork extraction in the spin-boson model
| Authors | A. E. Allahverdyan, R. Serral Gracia, Th. M. Nieuwenhuizen |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0411018 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0411018 |
| DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevE.71.046106 |
Abstract
We show that work can be extracted from a two-level system (spin) coupled to a bosonic thermal bath. This is possible due to different initial temperatures of the spin and the bath, both positive (no spin population inversion) and is realized by means of a suitable sequence of sharp pulses applied to the spin. The extracted work can be of the order of the response energy of the bath, therefore much larger than the energy of the spin. Moreover, the efficiency of extraction can be very close to its maximum, given by the Carnot bound, at the same time the overall amount of the extracted work is maximal. Therefore, we get a finite power at efficiency close to the Carnot bound. The effect comes from the backreaction of the spin on the bath, and it survives for a strongly disordered (inhomogeneously broadened) ensemble of spins. It is connected with generation of coherences during the work-extraction process, and we derived it in an exactly solvable model. All the necessary general thermodynamical relations are derived from the first principles of quantum mechanics and connections are made with processes of lasing without inversion and with quantum heat engines.
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"abstract": "We show that work can be extracted from a two-level system (spin) coupled to\na bosonic thermal bath. This is possible due to different initial temperatures\nof the spin and the bath, both positive (no spin population inversion) and is\nrealized by means of a suitable sequence of sharp pulses applied to the spin.\nThe extracted work can be of the order of the response energy of the bath,\ntherefore much larger than the energy of the spin. Moreover, the efficiency of\nextraction can be very close to its maximum, given by the Carnot bound, at the\nsame time the overall amount of the extracted work is maximal. Therefore, we\nget a finite power at efficiency close to the Carnot bound.\n The effect comes from the backreaction of the spin on the bath, and it\nsurvives for a strongly disordered (inhomogeneously broadened) ensemble of\nspins. It is connected with generation of coherences during the work-extraction\nprocess, and we derived it in an exactly solvable model. All the necessary\ngeneral thermodynamical relations are derived from the first principles of\nquantum mechanics and connections are made with processes of lasing without\ninversion and with quantum heat engines.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0411018",
"authors": [
"A. E. Allahverdyan",
"R. Serral Gracia",
"Th. M. Nieuwenhuizen"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph",
"cond-mat.stat-mech"
],
"doi": "10.1103/PhysRevE.71.046106",
"title": "Work extraction in the spin-boson model",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0411018"
},
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