Enhanced Efficiency in Shear-Loaded Brownian Gyrators
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866929732712398848 |
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| author | Abdoli, Iman Sharma, Abhinav Löwen, Hartmut |
| author_facet | Abdoli, Iman Sharma, Abhinav Löwen, Hartmut |
| contents | A Brownian gyrator is a system in which a particle experiences thermal noise from two distinct heat baths. This nonequilibrium setup inherently generates a nonzero torque, leading to gyrating motion around a potential energy minimum. As a minimal model for a heat engine, the Brownian gyrator provides valuable insights into energy conversion and nonequilibrium dynamics. Here, we investigate the effect of an externally imposed shear flow on a Brownian gyrator, treating it as a mechanical load. The shear flow introduces a tunable mechanism that allows the system to operate either as a heat engine, extracting work from the temperature gradient, or as a refrigerator, transferring heat from the colder to the hotter bath. Focusing on the heat engine regime, we analytically derive the steady-state probability distribution to compute the average torque exerted by the gyrator and quantify the mechanical power extracted from the shear. Our results show a remarkable increase in efficiency compared to the standard Brownian gyrator without shear, approaching Carnot efficiency at maximum power. Surprisingly, we also find that while the system can operate efficiently as a heat engine, it may become unstable before reaching the stall condition, highlighting a fundamental trade-off between efficiency and stability in shear-driven microscopic engines. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_19222 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Enhanced Efficiency in Shear-Loaded Brownian Gyrators Abdoli, Iman Sharma, Abhinav Löwen, Hartmut Statistical Mechanics Soft Condensed Matter Fluid Dynamics A Brownian gyrator is a system in which a particle experiences thermal noise from two distinct heat baths. This nonequilibrium setup inherently generates a nonzero torque, leading to gyrating motion around a potential energy minimum. As a minimal model for a heat engine, the Brownian gyrator provides valuable insights into energy conversion and nonequilibrium dynamics. Here, we investigate the effect of an externally imposed shear flow on a Brownian gyrator, treating it as a mechanical load. The shear flow introduces a tunable mechanism that allows the system to operate either as a heat engine, extracting work from the temperature gradient, or as a refrigerator, transferring heat from the colder to the hotter bath. Focusing on the heat engine regime, we analytically derive the steady-state probability distribution to compute the average torque exerted by the gyrator and quantify the mechanical power extracted from the shear. Our results show a remarkable increase in efficiency compared to the standard Brownian gyrator without shear, approaching Carnot efficiency at maximum power. Surprisingly, we also find that while the system can operate efficiently as a heat engine, it may become unstable before reaching the stall condition, highlighting a fundamental trade-off between efficiency and stability in shear-driven microscopic engines. |
| title | Enhanced Efficiency in Shear-Loaded Brownian Gyrators |
| topic | Statistical Mechanics Soft Condensed Matter Fluid Dynamics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.19222 |