The Ising critical quantum Otto engine

TL;DR

This paper investigates a quantum Ising chain-based Otto engine, demonstrating its ability to operate as both a heat engine and refrigerator, with enhanced performance near the critical point.

Contribution

It introduces a thermodynamically consistent model of a quantum Ising Otto engine and analyzes its operation modes and performance near the critical point.

Findings

Engine can operate as heat engine and refrigerator

Performance improves near the critical point

System modeled with a nonlocal Lindblad master equation

Abstract

We study a four-stroke Otto engine whose working fluid is a quantum Ising chain. The thermodynamic cycle consists in sweeps of the transverse magnetic field occurring in thermal isolation, alternated by thermalisation strokes with reservoirs at different temperatures. The system-environment coupling is modelled in a thermodynamically consistent way by means of a nonlocal Lindblad master equation. We show that the engine may operate in four different operation modes, depending on the various parameters, in particular it can act as a heat engine and as a refrigerator. We detect an enhancement of the thermodynamic performance as the critical point is crossed, and investigate it in detail.