We propose to use a quantum spin chain as a device to store and release energy coherently and we investigate the interplay between its internal correlations and outside decoherence. We employ the quantum Ising chain in a transverse field and our charging protocol consists of a sudden global quantum quench in the external field to take the system out of equilibrium. Interactions with the environment and decoherence phenomena can dissipate part of the work that the chain can supply after being charged, measured by the ergotropy. We find that overall, the system shows remarkably better performance, in terms of resilience, charging time, and energy storage, when topological frustration is introduced by setting antiferromagnetic interactions with an odd number of sites and periodic boundary conditions. Moreover, we show that in a simple discharging protocol to an external spin, only the frustrated chain can transfer work and not just heat. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
We propose to use a quantum spin chain as a device to store and release energy coherently and we investigate the interplay between its internal correlations and outside decoherence. We employ the quantum Ising chain in a transverse field and our charging protocol consists of a sudden global quantum quench in the external field to take the system out of equilibrium. Interactions with the environment and decoherence phenomena can dissipate part of the work that the chain can supply after being charged, measured by the ergotropy. We find that overall, the system shows remarkably better performance, in terms of resilience, charging time, and energy storage, when topological frustration is introduced by setting antiferromagnetic interactions with an odd number of sites and periodic boundary conditions. Moreover, we show that in a simple discharging protocol to an external spin, only the frustrated chain can transfer work and not just heat. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
With intensive studies of quantum thermodynamics, quantum batteries (QBs) have been proposed to store and transfer energy via quantum effects. Despite many theoretical models, decoherence remains a severe challenge and practical platforms are still rare. Here, we propose a QB based on the coherent Ising machine, in which the signal field acts as the core energy-storage unit. To clarify the role of quantum coherence in resisting dissipation, we decompose the ergotropy, i.e., the maximum extractable work from the QB, into its coherent and incoherent components. We find that the coherent part decays at a rate roughly half that of the incoherent part, exhibiting much stronger robustness against decoherence. More importantly, the coherent ergotropy and the average charging power reach their respective maxima at essentially the same moment, which defines the optimal instant to switch off the pump field. Finally, by coupling the QB to a two-level system as the load, we demonstrate an efficient energy discharge process of the proposed QB. Our work establishes a realistic and immediately-implementable QB architecture on a mature optical platform, laying a foundation for experimental exploration of quantum energy storage.
Recent advances in quantum information and quantum thermodynamics have reshaped the understanding of energy storage at the microscopic scale, paving the way toward protocols for storing and transferring energy in quantum devices. These systems, known as quantum batteries, offer a conceptual alternative to conventional macroscopic chemical batteries by exploiting quantum coherence, correlations, and many-body dynamics. By navigating the landscape of established spin-based quantum batteries, we review existing charging and work-extraction protocols, as well as the impact of external factors on their performance. Motivated by Floquet-engineered proposals, we further establish a connection between continuously and periodically driven spin chains as platforms for quantum energy storage. Finally, we survey experimental realizations and proposals, highlighting their implementability and scalability in current and near-term quantum technologies.
Quantum batteries are quantum systems designed to store energy and release it on demand. The optimization of their performance is an intensively studied topic within the realm of quantum technologies. Such optimization forces the question: how do quantum many-body systems work as quantum batteries? To address this issue, we rely on symmetry and symmetry breaking via quantum phase transitions. Specifically, we analyze a dimerized quantum XY chain in a transverse field as a prototype of an energy storage device. This model, which is characterized by ground states with different symmetries depending on the Hamiltonian parameters, can be mapped onto a spinless fermionic chain with superconducting correlations, displaying a rich quantum phase diagram. We show that the stored energy strongly depends on the quantum phase diagram of the model when large charging times are considered.
Quantum batteries utilize nonclassical resources to achieve charging speed and energy storage performances that surpass classical thermodynamic limits. However, the practical realization of quantum batteries is often constrained by the inevitable environment-induced dissipation of both stored ergotropy and coherence. To actively counteract these losses, we propose a dual-channel coherence framework that exploits dark-state protection to stabilize ergotropy. We conduct, for the first time, an investigation of the synergistic interplay between internal charger coherence and reservoir squeezing, the latter acting as a source of external coherence. In the resource-efficient regime where charger and battery sizes are comparable, our study shows that internal charger coherence and reservoir squeezing jointly enhance the transient charging power. Crucially, initial charger coherence is the fundamental resource for maximizing and stabilizing steady-state ergotropy through dark-state protection. Our analysis reveals that these advantages are driven by the buildup of local battery coherence, which emerges from the integration of both internal and external coherence sources. These results offer a robust pathway for high-power, stabilized energy storage in quantum architectures.
In the context of quantum information, a quantum battery refers to a system composed of quantum particles that can store and release energy in a way that is governed by the principles of quantum mechanics. The study of open quantum batteries is motivated by the fact that real-world quantum systems are almost never perfectly isolated from their environment. One important challenge in the study of open quantum batteries is to develop theoretical models that accurately capture the complex interactions between the battery and its environment. the goal of studying open quantum batteries is to develop practical methods for building and operating quantum devices that can store and release energy with high efficiency and reliability, even in the presence of environmental noise and other sources of decoherence. The charging process of open quantum batteries under the influence of dissipative environment will be studied. In this Work, the effect of the classical driving field on the charging process of open quantum batteries will be investigated. The classical driving field can be used to manipulate the charging and discharging process of the battery, leading to enhanced performance and improved efficiency. It also will be showed that the efficiency of open quantum batteries depends on detuning between the qubit and the classical driving field and central frequency of the cavity and the classical driving field.
A Hubbard-Holstein dimer functions as a correlation-driven quantum battery, with ergotropy robustly stored, under some conditions, even in the presence of dissipation. We find that, although optimal work extraction can in principle recover all the stored energy, it requires unrealistically fine-tuned couplings. By contrast, a physically realizable protocol based on spectral matching between the battery and the load achieves substantial, albeit suboptimal, energy extraction. Our results identify a mechanism for quantum energy storage, provide a realistic route to work extraction that is amenable to machine-learning-based theoretical exploration, and suggest that quantum batteries may not be universally deployable: the microscopic mechanism responsible for storing energy can constrain the classes of systems able to efficiently extract it.