Quantum thermodynamics: thermodynamics at the nanoscale

TL;DR

This paper introduces key concepts in quantum thermodynamics, including ergotropy, the impact of correlations on efficiency, and optimal protocols involving level crossing, advancing understanding of thermodynamics at the quantum and nanoscale levels.

Contribution

It presents new theoretical results on work extraction, efficiency limits, and optimal processes in quantum thermodynamics, extending classical thermodynamic principles to quantum systems.

Findings

Ergotropy as a new measure for maximal work extraction.

Correlations can enhance efficiency beyond Carnot limit.

Non-slow processes can outperform slow ones in level crossing scenarios.

Abstract

A short introduction on quantum thermodynamics is given and three new topics are discussed: 1) Maximal work extraction from a finite quantum system. The thermodynamic prediction fails and a new, general result is derived, the ``ergotropy''. 2) In work extraction from two-temperature setups, the presence of correlations can push the effective efficiency beyond the Carnot bound. 3) In the presence of level crossing, non-slow changes may be more optimal than slow ones.