Thermodynamic control —An old paradigm with new applications

¹ Department of Physics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County - Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
² Instituto de Física “Gleb Wataghin”, Universidade Estadual de Campinas 13083-859, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

Received: 24 June 2020
Accepted: 23 July 2020

Abstract

Tremendous research efforts have been invested in exploring and designing so-called shortcuts to adiabaticity. These are finite-time processes that produce the same final states that would result from infinitely slow driving. Most of these techniques rely on auxiliary fields and quantum control, which makes them rather costly to implement. In this Perspective we outline an alternative paradigm for optimal control that has proven powerful in a wide variety of situations ranging from heat engines over chemical reactions to quantum dynamics —thermodynamic control. Focusing on only a few, selected milestones we seek to provide a pedagogical entry point into this powerful and versatile framework.