In this chapter, we examine how quantum coherence affects the effectiveness and performance of quantum Otto engines running in nonequilibrium conditions. Energy conversion on a quantum scale can be understood through the use of quantum Otto engines, which employ cyclic thermodynamic processes involving isochoric and adiabatic transformations. We examine how the ability to extract work from thermal reservoirs at different temperatures is impacted by preserving quantum coherence among the engine’s operating states. We investigate the dynamics of coherence under various nonequilibrium conditions and configurations, including changing temperatures and coupling strengths, using the Quantum Master Equation framework. According to our research, engines with improved quantum coherence perform noticeably better than their classical counterparts, allowing for higher efficiencies and more work extraction. We also explore optimization techniques and real-world applications for creating quantum heat engines that make use of coherence as a vital resource. The potential of coherent quantum states in powering next-generation energy systems is highlighted in this work, which connects theoretical developments in quantum thermodynamics with real-world applications.
In this chapter, we examine how quantum coherence affects the effectiveness and performance of quantum Otto engines running in nonequilibrium conditions. Energy conversion on a quantum scale can be understood through the use of quantum Otto engines, which employ cyclic thermodynamic processes involving isochoric and adiabatic transformations. We examine how the ability to extract work from thermal reservoirs at different temperatures is impacted by preserving quantum coherence among the engine’s operating states. We investigate the dynamics of coherence under various nonequilibrium conditions and configurations, including changing temperatures and coupling strengths, using the Quantum Master Equation framework. According to our research, engines with improved quantum coherence perform noticeably better than their classical counterparts, allowing for higher efficiencies and more work extraction. We also explore optimization techniques and real-world applications for creating quantum heat engines that make use of coherence as a vital resource. The potential of coherent quantum states in powering next-generation energy systems is highlighted in this work, which connects theoretical developments in quantum thermodynamics with real-world applications.
This paper presents an analysis of quantum Otto heat engines operating out of equilibrium. It explores the fundamental thermodynamic principles governing these engines, focusing on efficiency, work output, and the impact of environmental factors, including thermal gradients, external fields, noise, and decoherence. The study investigates the effects of non-equilibrium conditions on engine performance, highlighting challenges and opportunities in practical realizations. Through numerical simulations, the article examines the power, efficiency, and performance coefficients, revealing trade-offs between these metrics and the influence of temperature differences and internal coupling strength. The results demonstrate that non-equilibrium effects can significantly reduce efficiency compared to idealized scenarios, underscoring the importance of accounting for both quantum effects and real-world constraints in the design and optimization of quantum heat engines. This work contributes to the growing body of knowledge in quantum thermodynamics, offering insights for quantum computing, sustainable energy technologies, and thermodynamic cycles at the quantum scale.
Abstract This paper presents an analysis of quantum Otto heat engines operating in non-equilibrium. It explores the fundamental thermodynamic principles that govern these engines, focusing on efficiency, work output, and the impact of environmental factors such as thermal gradients, external fields, noise, and decoherence. The study investigates the effects of non-equilibrium conditions on engine performance, highlighting challenges and opportunities in practical realizations. Through numerical simulations, the article examines the power, efficiency, and performance coefficients, revealing trade-offs between these metrics and the influence of temperature differences and internal coupling strength. The results demonstrate that non-equilibrium effects can significantly reduce efficiency compared to ideal scenarios, emphasizing the importance of considering both quantum effects and real-world limitations in the design and optimization of quantum heat engines. This work contributes to the growing body of knowledge in quantum thermodynamics, offering insights for quantum computing, sustainable energy technologies, and thermodynamic cycles at the quantum scale.
An analytical study of a feedback-driven quantum engine based on a two-level system is presented. This engine is similar to a quantum Otto engine but substitutes the quantum isochoric process with a feedback-driven operation based on a measured observable $A(\ensuremath{\theta})$, whose eigenstates are coherent superpositions of energy eigenstates. Projective measurements control the feedback operations, while work extraction or heat absorption occurs during driven operations. We derive the general time-dependent efficiency, power, and power fluctuations. Quantum coherence is examined through three mechanisms: (i) coherence associated with $\ensuremath{\theta}\ensuremath{\ne}0$, (ii) residual coherence after incomplete thermalization, and (iii) coherence generated by the interaction between the system and a coherent laser pulse on resonance. We investigate how the parameter $\ensuremath{\theta}$, quantum coherence, and timing of unitary and feedback-driven strokes influence engine performance. We demonstrate that quantum coherence can significantly enhance power output and efficiency while reducing fluctuations through optimal cycle parameter adjustments.
The working substance fueling a quantum heat engine may contain coherence in its energy basis, depending on the dynamics of the engine cycle. In some models of quantum Otto heat engines, energy coherence has been associated with entropy production and quantum friction. We considered a quantum Otto heat engine operating at finite time. Coherence is generated and the working substance does not reach thermal equilibrium after interacting with the hot heat reservoir, leaving the working substance in a state with residual energy coherence. We observe an interferencelike effect between the residual coherence (after the incomplete thermalization) and the coherence generated in the subsequent finite-time stroke. We introduce analytical expressions highlighting the role of coherence and examine how this dynamical interference effect influences the engine performance. Additionally, in this scenario in which coherence is present along the cycle, we argue that the careful tuning of the cycle parameters may exploit this interference effect and make coherence acts like a dynamical quantum lubricant. To illustrate this, we numerically consider an experimentally feasible example and compare the engine performance to the performance of a similar engine where the residual coherence is completely erased, ruling out the dynamical interference effect.
The quantum heat engines have drawn much attention due to miniaturization of devices recently. We study the dynamics of the quantum Otto heat engine using the driven-dissipative Schrödinger equation. Starting from different initial states, we simulate the time evolutions of the internal energy, power and heat-work conversion efficiency. The initial state impacts on these thermodynamic quantities before the Otto cycle reaches stable. In the transition period, the efficiency and power may be higher or lower than the corresponding values in the cyclostationary state. Remarkably, the efficiency could surpass the Otto limit and even the Carnot limit and the power could be much higher than the rated power. The efficiency anomaly is due to the energy in the initial state. Thus, we suggest that periodically pumping could take the similar role of a hot bath but could be manipulated flexibly. Furthermore, we propose a new quantum engine working in a single reservoir to convert the pump energy into mechanical work. This manipulative engine could potentially be applied to working in the microenvironments without a large temperature difference, such as the biological tissues in vivo. Our protocol is expected to model a new quantum engine with the advantage of applicability and controllability.
We consider a finite-time quantum Otto heat engine that consists of two isochoric (thermal-contact) process, where the system is alternatively coupled to a hot squeezed and a cold thermal reservoir, and two unitary driven strokes, where the system is isolated from these two baths and its von Neumann entropy keeps constant. Both quantum inner friction and coherence are generated along the driven stroke and coherence cannot be fully erased after the finite-time hot isochore. Using full counting statistics, we present the probability distribution functions of heat injection and total work per cycle, which are dependent on the time duration along each process. With these, we derive the analytical expressions for the thermodynamic quantities of the two-level heat engine, such as total work, thermodynamic efficiency, entropy production, and work fluctuations, in which effects of coherence, squeezing, inner friction and finite-time heat exchange are included. We then numerically determine the thermodynamic quantities and the fluctuations using the parameters employed in the experimental implementation. Our results clarify the role of coherence and squeezing in the performance and fluctuations in the quantum Otto engines.