Comments on Extraction of Work from a Single Thermal Bath in the Quantum Regime

TL;DR

This paper critically examines claims that quantum coherence allows violation of the Clausius inequality and work extraction from a single thermal bath, questioning the validity of such assertions in quantum thermodynamics.

Contribution

The paper provides a detailed analysis challenging previous claims about work extraction from a single thermal bath due to quantum effects, clarifying misconceptions in quantum thermodynamics.

Findings

The Clausius inequality remains valid in quantum regimes.

Quantum coherence does not enable perpetual work extraction from a single bath.

Previous claims of violation are critically reassessed and found lacking.

Abstract

In a PRL [1], the authors claim to show that "the Clausius inequality can be violated, and that it is even possible to extract work from a thermal bath by cyclic variations of a parameter ("perpetuum mobile"), and that the physical cause for this behavior is traced back to quantum coherence in the presence of the nonequilibrium bath (sic)".