Magnetically driven quantum heat engine

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the efficiency of two magnetically driven quantum heat engine schemes using a single particle in a cylindrical potential, comparing a cycle with isoenergetic and adiabatic steps to a quantum Carnot-like cycle.

Contribution

It introduces and compares two quantum heat engine schemes driven by magnetic fields, including a novel quantum analog of the Carnot cycle.

Findings

Efficiency depends on magnetic field modulation

Quantum Carnot cycle achieves maximum theoretical efficiency

Comparison highlights advantages of isoenergetic vs isothermal processes

Abstract

We studied the efficiency of two different schemes for a magnetically driven quantum heat engine, by considering as the working substance a single nonrelativistic particle trapped in a cylindrical potential well, in the presence of an external magnetic field. The first scheme is a cycle, composed of two adiabatic and two isoenergetic reversible trajectories in configuration space. The trajectories are driven by a quasistatic modulation of the external magnetic-field intensity. The second scheme is a variant of the former, where the isoenergetic trajectories are replaced by isothermal ones, along which the system is in contact with macroscopic thermostats. This second scheme constitutes a quantum analog of the classical Carnot cycle.