Abstract
We develop a general framework to describe the thermodynamics of microscopic heat engines driven by arbitrary periodic temperature variations and modulations of a mechanical control parameter. Within the slow-driving regime, our approach leads to a universal trade-off relation between efficiency and power, which follows solely from geometric arguments and holds for any thermodynamically consistent microdynamics. Focusing on Lindblad dynamics, we derive a second bound showing that coherence as a genuine quantum effect inevitably reduces the performance of slow engine cycles regardless of the driving amplitudes. To show how our theory can be applied in practice, we work out a specific example, which lies within the range of current solid-state technologies.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 040602 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Physical Review Letters |
Volume | 124 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 29 Jan 2020 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |