Interaction enhanced quantum heat engine

TL;DR

This paper investigates a quantum Otto heat engine with an interacting few-body system, demonstrating how tuning interactions can enhance performance and analyzing the efficiency-power trade-off in finite time operation.

Contribution

It introduces a minimal quantum heat engine model with tunable interactions and analyzes their impact on efficiency and power, highlighting regimes where interactions improve performance.

Findings

Interactions can enhance engine efficiency.

Optimal interaction strength depends on temperature.

Finite time dynamics reveal trade-offs between efficiency and power.

Abstract

We study a minimal quantum Otto heat engine, where the working medium consists of an interacting few-body system in a harmonic trap. This allows us to consider the interaction strength as an additional tunable parameter during the work strokes. We calculate the figures of merit of this engine as a function of the temperature and show clearly in which parameter regimes the interactions assist in engine performance. We also study the finite time dynamics and the subsequent trade-off between the efficiency and the power, comparing the interaction enhanced cycle with the case where the system remains scale-invariant.