MBL-mobile: Quantum engine based on many-body localization

TL;DR

This paper proposes a quantum Otto engine utilizing many-body localization (MBL) properties, demonstrating how MBL can be harnessed for thermodynamic tasks with scalable efficiency and power.

Contribution

It introduces a novel quantum engine cycle based on MBL systems, leveraging their non-thermalizing nature for thermodynamic applications.

Findings

Engine efficiency comparable to conventional Otto engines.

Power scales linearly with system size.

Engine performance benefits from MBL properties.

Abstract

Many-body-localized (MBL) systems do not thermalize under their intrinsic dynamics. The athermality of MBL, we propose, can be harnessed for thermodynamic tasks. We illustrate this ability by formulating an Otto engine cycle for a quantum many-body system. The system is ramped between a strongly localized MBL regime and a thermal (or weakly localized) regime. The difference between the energy-level correlations of MBL systems and of thermal systems enables mesoscale engines to run in parallel in the thermodynamic limit, enhances the engine's reliability, and suppresses worst-case trials. We estimate analytically and calculate numerically the engine's efficiency and per-cycle power. The efficiency mirrors the efficiency of the conventional thermodynamic Otto engine. The per-cycle power scales linearly with the system size and inverse-exponentially with a localization length. This work introduces a thermodynamic lens onto MBL, which, having been studied much recently, can now be considered for use in thermodynamic tasks.