Balancing Power, Efficiency, and Constancy under Broken Time-Reversal Symmetry

TL;DR

This paper establishes fundamental trade-off relations among power, efficiency, and fluctuations in thermoelectric systems with broken time-reversal symmetry, revealing new limits and operational possibilities.

Contribution

It derives universal bounds on efficiency, power, and fluctuations that account for broken time-reversal symmetry, extending previous thermodynamic trade-off relations.

Findings

Bounds are valid even with broken time-reversal symmetry.

Heat engines can operate near-Carnot efficiency with finite power and fluctuations.

Results provide deeper insights into nonequilibrium thermodynamics constraints.

Abstract

We derive general trade-off relations among the power, efficiency, and constancy for two-terminal thermoelectric systems in the linear response regime. Constancy, which quantifies the steadiness of the heat engine, is measured by its fluctuations. The bounds of the efficiency, power and fluctuations are valid even when time-reversal symmetry is broken, revealing how such a symmetry breaking alters the fundamental constraints on steady-state energy conversion. Our results extend and refine previously established universal trade-offs, offering deeper insight into the performance limits in nonequilibrium thermodynamics. Guided by this bound, heat engines with broken time-reversal symmetry can be operated at near-Carnot efficiency while maintaining finite power output and fluctuations, enabling them to outperform their traditional counterparts.