Dynamics of Quantum Dissipative Systems: The Example of Quantum Brownian Motors

TL;DR

This paper explores the dynamics of quantum Brownian motors, highlighting how dissipation and quantum effects like tunneling influence their performance and lead to unique phenomena such as current reversals.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the behavior of quantum Brownian motors, especially regarding their load characteristics and the role of dissipative environments.

Findings

Dissipative environments significantly affect motor performance.

Quantum tunneling introduces features like current reversals.

Analysis of load characteristics in quantum motors.

Abstract

Brownian motors, i.e. devices able to produce useful work out of thermal forces with the help of other unbiased forces, provide an ideal benchmark for the investigation of quantum dissipative systems, for two reasons. First, the interaction with a dissipative environment plays an essential role in the performance of Brownian motors. Second, dissipative tunneling enriches the dynamics of quantum Brownian motors with respect to their classical counterpart, inducing features such as current reversals as a function of temperature. Here we report on our work on quantum Brownian motors and discuss the load characteristic of such a system.