Minimal model of a heat engine: An information theory approach

TL;DR

This paper presents a generic heat engine model based on information theory, linking energy dissipation to information channels, and recovers key thermodynamic principles including Carnot efficiency and maximum power efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces a novel information-theoretic framework for heat engines that unifies reversible and nonreversible thermodynamics.

Findings

Recovers Carnot principle in the reversible limit

Derives universal maximum power efficiency in linear response

Applies both classical and quantum channel capacities

Abstract

We construct a generic model for a heat engine using information theory concepts, attributing irreversible energy dissipation to the information transmission channels. Using several forms for the channel capacity, classical and quantum, we demonstrate that our model recovers both the Carnot principle in the reversible limit, and the universal maximum power efficiency expression of nonreversible thermodynamics in the linear response regime. We expect the model to be immensely useful as a testbed for studying fundamental topics in thermodynamics.