Quantum heat engine with long-range advantages

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that long-range interactions in a quantum heat engine, modeled by a Kitaev chain undergoing a quantum Otto cycle, can significantly enhance performance by reducing energy losses and balancing power and efficiency.

Contribution

It reveals that increasing the range of interactions in a quantum heat engine improves thermodynamic performance, especially in finite-time cycles, by suppressing non-adiabatic excitations.

Findings

Long-range interactions enhance quantum heat engine efficiency.

Long-range interactions reduce non-adiabatic energy losses.

Performance gains are significant in finite-time cycles.

Abstract

The employment of long-range interactions in quantum devices provides a promising route towards enhancing their performance in quantum technology applications. Here, the presence of long-range interactions is shown to enhance the performances of a quantum heat engine featuring a many-body working substance. We focus on the paradigmatic example of a Kitaev chain undergoing a quantum Otto cycle and show that a substantial thermodynamic advantage may be achieved as the range of the interactions among its constituents increases. Interestingly, such an advantage is most significant for the realistic situation of a finite time cycle: the presence of long-range interactions reduces the non-adiabatic energy losses, by suppressing the detrimental effects of dynamically generated excitations. This effect allows mitigating the trade-off between power and efficiency, paving the way for a wide range of experimental and technological applications.