Richens, JG;
Masanes, L;
(2016)
Work extraction from quantum systems with bounded fluctuations in work.
Nature Communications
, 7
, Article 13511. 10.1038/ncomms13511.
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Abstract
In the standard framework of thermodynamics, work is a random variable whose average is bounded by the change in free energy of the system. This average work is calculated without regard for the size of its fluctuations. Here we show that for some processes, such as reversible cooling, the fluctuations in work diverge. Realistic thermal machines may be unable to cope with arbitrarily large fluctuations. Hence, it is important to understand how thermodynamic efficiency rates are modified by bounding fluctuations. We quantify the work content and work of formation of arbitrary finite dimensional quantum states when the fluctuations in work are bounded by a given amount c. By varying c we interpolate between the standard and minimum free energies. We derive fundamental trade-offs between the magnitude of work and its fluctuations. As one application of these results, we derive the corrected Carnot efficiency of a qubit heat engine with bounded fluctuations.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Work extraction from quantum systems with bounded fluctuations in work |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1038/ncomms13511 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13511 |
| Additional information: | © 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Multidisciplinary Sciences, Science & Technology - Other Topics, FREE-ENERGY, THERMODYNAMICS |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > London Centre for Nanotechnology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1532785 |
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