Efficiency and Its Bounds for a Quantum Einstein Engine at Maximum Power

TL;DR

This paper analyzes a quantum Einstein engine using Einstein's radiation law with various quantum statistics, deriving efficiency bounds at maximum power and comparing them to classical engines.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum engine model based on Einstein's radiation law with different quantum statistics and derives its efficiency bounds at maximum power.

Findings

Efficiency bounds depend on quantum statistics and contact time.

Quantum engine efficiency bounds differ from classical counterparts.

Efficiency at maximum power is characterized for various quantum distributions.

Abstract

We study a quantum thermal engine model for which the heat transfer law is determined by Einstein's theory of radiation. The working substance of the quantum engine is assumed to be a two-level quantum systems of which the constituent particles obey Maxwell-Boltzmann(M.B.), Fermi-Dirac(F.D.) or Bose-einstein(B.E.) distributions respectively at equilibrium. The thermal efficiency and its bounds at maximum power of these models are derived and discussed in the long and short thermal contact time limits. The similarity and difference between these models are discussed. We also compare the efficiency bounds of this quantum thermal engine to those of its classical counterpart.