Entropy production and thermodynamic power of the squeezed thermal reservoir

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a squeezed thermal reservoir's quantum properties enable enhanced work extraction and efficiency in quantum heat engines, revealing new operational regimes like simultaneous refrigeration and work extraction.

Contribution

It introduces a modified quantum Otto cycle that exploits squeezing to achieve regimes impossible in standard setups, including unity efficiency and concurrent refrigeration.

Findings

Work extraction from a single reservoir is possible due to quantum squeezing.

The modified cycle achieves efficiencies up to 100%.

New operational regimes like simultaneous refrigeration and work extraction are characterized.

Abstract

We analyze the entropy production and the maximal extractable work from a squeezed thermal reservoir. The nonequilibrium quantum nature of the reservoir induces an entropy transfer with a coherent contribution while modifying its thermal part, allowing work extraction from a single reservoir, as well as great improvements in power and efficiency for quantum heat engines. Introducing a modified quantum Otto cycle, our approach fully characterizes operational regimes forbidden in the standard case, such as refrigeration and work extraction at the same time, accompanied by efficiencies equal to unity.