Study of quantum Otto heat engine using driven-dissipative Schr\"{o}dinger equation

TL;DR

This paper investigates the dynamics of a quantum Otto heat engine using a driven-dissipative Schrödinger equation, revealing efficiency surpassing classical limits and proposing a novel single-reservoir quantum engine for microenvironment applications.

Contribution

It introduces a new quantum engine model that operates with a single reservoir and demonstrates efficiency and power enhancements beyond traditional limits.

Findings

Efficiency can surpass Otto and Carnot limits due to initial state energy.

Power output can be significantly higher than rated power.

Periodically pumping acts as a flexible hot bath alternative.

Abstract

The quantum heat engines have drawn much attention due to miniaturization of devices recently. We study the dynamics of the quantum Otto heat engine using the driven-dissipative Schr\"{o}dinger equation. Starting from different initial states, we simulate the time evolutions of the internal energy, power and heat-work conversion efficiency. The initial state impacts on these thermodynamic quantities before the Otto cycle reaches stable. In the transition period, the efficiency and power may be higher or lower than the corresponding values in the cyclostationary state. Remarkably, the efficiency could surpass the Otto limit and even the Carnot limit and the power could be much higher than the rated power. The efficiency anomaly is due to the energy in the initial state. Thus, we suggest that periodically pumping could take the similar role of a hot bath but could be manipulated flexibly. Furthermore, we propose a new quantum engine working in a single reservoir to convert the pump energy into mechanical work. This manipulative engine could potentially be applied to working in the microenvironments without a large temperature difference, such as the biological tissues in vivo. Our protocol is expected to model a new quantum engine with the advantage of applicability and controllability.