Power Fluctuations of An Irreversible Quantum Otto Engine

TL;DR

This paper derives the probability distribution of work and analyzes power fluctuations in an irreversible quantum Otto engine, revealing a trade-off between efficiency, power, and fluctuations using a two-level system model.

Contribution

It provides an analytical framework for understanding work fluctuations and power dynamics in irreversible quantum engines, highlighting the efficiency-fluctuation trade-off.

Findings

Power fluctuations are explicitly derived for a two-level quantum Otto engine.

A trade-off between efficiency (or power) and power fluctuations is demonstrated.

Analytical expressions connect cycle irreversibility with thermodynamic performance.

Abstract

We derive the general probability distribution function of stochastic work for quantum Otto engines in which both the isochoric and driving processes are irreversible due to finite time duration. The time-dependent power fluctuations, average power, and thermodynamic efficiency are explicitly obtained for a complete cycle operating with an analytically solvable two-level system. We show that, there is a trade-off between efficiency (or power) and power fluctuations.