The efficiency of Quantum Mechanical Carnot Engine using the Woods Saxon model

TL;DR

This paper investigates the efficiency of a quantum Carnot engine modeled with the Woods-Saxon potential, demonstrating its analogy to classical engines and its validity as an alternative quantum engine model.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum Carnot cycle using the Woods-Saxon potential and derives its efficiency, showing consistency with classical results and other potential models.

Findings

Quantum Carnot cycle efficiency derived using Woods-Saxon potential.

The results align with classical engine efficiency in appropriate limits.

Woods-Saxon potential can serve as an alternative model for quantum engines.

Abstract

The quantum engine cycle serves as an analogous representation of classical heat engines for microscopic systems and the quantum regime of thermal devices is composed of a single element. In this work, the Quantum-Mechanical properties of a non-linear quantum oscillator described by the Woods-Saxon [WS] model are examined. The Quantum-Mechanical analogue of the Carnot cycle was constructed using changes in both the width L of the well and the quantum state of the potential well. The efficiency of the quantum engine, consisting of adiabatic and isothermal processes based on the Woods-Saxon [WS] potential is derived. The result is shown to be analogous to that of the classical engine and found to agree, within an appropriate limit, with existing results obtained from other potential models. This implies that the [WS] potential can be used as an alternative model in quantum engines.