Quantum Otto engines at relativistic energies

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Myers, Nathan M., Abah, Obinna, Deffner, Sebastian
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2021
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author Myers, Nathan M.
Abah, Obinna
Deffner, Sebastian
author_facet Myers, Nathan M.
Abah, Obinna
Deffner, Sebastian
contents Relativistic quantum systems exhibit unique features not present at lower energies, such as the existence of both particles and antiparticles, and restrictions placed on the system dynamics due to the light cone. In order to understand what impact these relativistic phenomena have on the performance of quantum thermal machines we analyze a quantum Otto engine with a working medium of a relativistic particle in an oscillator potential evolving under Dirac or Klein-Gordon dynamics. We examine both the low-temperature, non-relativistic and high-temperature, relativistic limits of the dynamics and find that the relativistic engine operates with higher work output, but an effectively reduced compression ratio, leading to significantly smaller efficiency than its non-relativistic counterpart. Using the framework of endoreversible thermodynamics we determine the efficiency at maximum power of the relativistic engine, and find it to be equivalent to the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2107_10965
institution arXiv
publishDate 2021
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Quantum Otto engines at relativistic energies
Myers, Nathan M.
Abah, Obinna
Deffner, Sebastian
Statistical Mechanics
Quantum Physics
Relativistic quantum systems exhibit unique features not present at lower energies, such as the existence of both particles and antiparticles, and restrictions placed on the system dynamics due to the light cone. In order to understand what impact these relativistic phenomena have on the performance of quantum thermal machines we analyze a quantum Otto engine with a working medium of a relativistic particle in an oscillator potential evolving under Dirac or Klein-Gordon dynamics. We examine both the low-temperature, non-relativistic and high-temperature, relativistic limits of the dynamics and find that the relativistic engine operates with higher work output, but an effectively reduced compression ratio, leading to significantly smaller efficiency than its non-relativistic counterpart. Using the framework of endoreversible thermodynamics we determine the efficiency at maximum power of the relativistic engine, and find it to be equivalent to the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency.
title Quantum Otto engines at relativistic energies
topic Statistical Mechanics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2107.10965