Thermodynamics of non-Markovian reservoirs and heat engines

TL;DR

This paper explores how non-Markovian effects in reservoirs can be harnessed as a resource to enhance work extraction in quantum heat engines, providing a new perspective on thermodynamics with memory effects.

Contribution

It introduces a method to utilize non-Markovian reservoir effects for work extraction in an Otto cycle, linking non-Markovianity to thermodynamic bounds.

Findings

Non-Markovian effects can increase work extraction.

A two-step process achieves state transformation under non-Markovian dynamics.

The maximum extractable work bounds the degree of non-Markovianity.

Abstract

We show that non-Markovian effects of the reservoirs can be used as a resource to extract work from an Otto cycle. The state transformation under non-Markovian dynamics is achieved via a two-step process, namely an isothermal process using a Markovian reservoir followed by an adiabatic process. From second law of thermodynamics, we show that the maximum amount of extractable work from the state prepared under the non-Markovian dynamics quantifies a lower bound of non-Markovianity. We illustrate our ideas with an explicit example of non-Markovian evolution.