Charging Quantum Batteries via Dissipative Quenches

TL;DR

This paper explores how engineered dissipative environments can activate and optimize work extraction from quantum spin chain batteries, revealing temperature-dependent effects and the impact of environmental structure.

Contribution

It systematically analyzes the role of dissipation and dephasing in generating ergotropy in quantum batteries, introducing a continuum of noise channels and examining their effects.

Findings

Dissipation can activate ergotropy from passive thermal states.

Temperature influences the steady-state passivity and work extractability.

Dephasing suppresses transient and steady-state work extraction.

Abstract

We investigate work extraction in open quantum batteries composed of interacting spin chains weakly coupled to engineered environments. Focusing on two- and four-qubit XX models initially prepared in thermal Gibbs states, we analyze how dissipation and dephasing, acting either locally or collectively, can generate and shape ergotropy during both transient and steady-state dynamics. By introducing a continuous interpolation between parallel and collective noise channels, we systematically characterize the impact of environmental structure on work extractability. We show that purely dissipative dynamics can activate finite ergotropy from completely passive thermal states, giving rise to temperature-dependent transient regimes where hotter initial states temporarily outperform colder ones in an ergotropic Mpemba-like fashion. In contrast, collective dissipation leads to steady states whose passivity crucially depends on the initial temperature and system size, a behavior we trace back to the emergence of non-trivial dark subspaces. Finally, we demonstrate that dephasing channels suppress both transient advantages and steady-state work extraction, highlighting the qualitative difference between dissipative and dephasing environments.