Power enhancement of heat engines via correlated thermalization in a three-level "working fluid"

David Gelbwaser-Klimovsky, Wolfgang Niedenzu, Paul Brumer, Gershon Kurizki

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We explore means of maximizing the power output of a heat engine based on a periodically-driven quantum system that is constantly coupled to hot and cold baths. It is shown that the maximal power output of such a heat engine whose "working fluid" is a degenerate V-type three-level system is that generated by two independent two-level systems. Hence, level degeneracy is a thermodynamic resource that may effectively double the power output. The efficiency, however, is not affected. We find that coherence is not an essential asset in such multilevel-based heat engines. The existence of two thermalization pathways sharing a common ground state suffices for power enhancement.

Original languageEnglish
Article number14413
JournalScientific Reports
Volume5
DOIs
StatePublished - 23 Sep 2015

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

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