Attaining Carnot Efficiency with Quantum and Nanoscale Heat Engines

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how quantum and nanoscale heat engines can achieve Carnot efficiency in the one-shot finite-size regime by utilizing semi-local thermal operations and inter-system correlations, surpassing previous limitations.

Contribution

It introduces a new framework for quantum heat engines that attain Carnot efficiency in the one-shot regime using semi-local thermal operations and correlations.

Findings

Achieves Carnot efficiency in one-shot finite-size quantum engines.

Engine performance surpasses previous models in work extraction efficiency.

Capable of converting heat into work solely through inter-system correlations.

Abstract

A heat engine operating in the one-shot finite-size regime, where systems composed of a small number of quantum particles interact with hot and cold baths and are restricted to one-shot measurements, delivers fluctuating work. Further, engines with lesser fluctuation produce a lesser amount of deterministic work. Hence, the heat-to-work conversion efficiency stays well below the Carnot efficiency. Here we overcome this limitation and attain Carnot efficiency in the one-shot finite-size regime, where the engines allow the working systems to simultaneously interact with two baths via the semi-local thermal operations and reversibly operate in a one-step cycle. These engines are superior to the ones considered earlier in work extraction efficiency, and, even, are capable of converting heat into work by exclusively utilizing inter-system correlations. We formulate a resource theory for quantum heat engines to prove the results.