Harnessing non-equilibrium forces to optimize work extraction

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Olsen, Kristian Stølevik, Goerlich, Rémi, Roichman, Yael, Löwen, Hartmut
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866910907549876224
author Olsen, Kristian Stølevik
Goerlich, Rémi
Roichman, Yael
Löwen, Hartmut
author_facet Olsen, Kristian Stølevik
Goerlich, Rémi
Roichman, Yael
Löwen, Hartmut
contents While optimal control theory offers effective strategies for minimizing energetic costs in noisy microscopic systems over finite durations, a significant opportunity lies in exploiting the temporal structure of non-equilibrium forces. We demonstrate this by presenting exact analytical forms for the optimal protocol and the corresponding work for any driving force and protocol duration. We also derive a general quasistatic bound on the work, relying only on the coarse-grained, time-integrated characteristics of the applied forces. Notably, we show that the optimal protocols often automatically act as information engines that harness information about non-equilibrium forces and an initial state measurement to extract work. These findings chart new directions for designing adaptive, energy-efficient strategies in noisy, time-dependent environments, as illustrated through our examples of periodic driving forces and active matter systems. By exploiting the temporal structure of non-equilibrium forces, this largely unexplored approach holds promise for substantial performance gains in microscopic devices operating at the nano- and microscale.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_07049
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Harnessing non-equilibrium forces to optimize work extraction
Olsen, Kristian Stølevik
Goerlich, Rémi
Roichman, Yael
Löwen, Hartmut
Statistical Mechanics
Soft Condensed Matter
While optimal control theory offers effective strategies for minimizing energetic costs in noisy microscopic systems over finite durations, a significant opportunity lies in exploiting the temporal structure of non-equilibrium forces. We demonstrate this by presenting exact analytical forms for the optimal protocol and the corresponding work for any driving force and protocol duration. We also derive a general quasistatic bound on the work, relying only on the coarse-grained, time-integrated characteristics of the applied forces. Notably, we show that the optimal protocols often automatically act as information engines that harness information about non-equilibrium forces and an initial state measurement to extract work. These findings chart new directions for designing adaptive, energy-efficient strategies in noisy, time-dependent environments, as illustrated through our examples of periodic driving forces and active matter systems. By exploiting the temporal structure of non-equilibrium forces, this largely unexplored approach holds promise for substantial performance gains in microscopic devices operating at the nano- and microscale.
title Harnessing non-equilibrium forces to optimize work extraction
topic Statistical Mechanics
Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.07049