Issue |
Europhys. Lett.
Volume 75, Number 1, July 2006
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 22 - 28 | |
Section | General | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/epl/i2006-10080-2 | |
Published online | 02 June 2006 |
A heat pump at a molecular scale controlled by a mechanical force
1
College of Science, Ibaraki University - Mito 310-8512, Japan
2
Department of Physics, Gakushuin University - Mejiro, Tokyo 171-8588, Japan
Received:
23
February
2006
Accepted:
11
May
2006
We show that a mesoscopic system such as Feynman's ratchet may operate as a heat pump, and clarify underlying physical picture. We consider a system of a particle moving along an asymmetric periodic structure. When put into contact with two distinct heat baths of equal temperature, the system transfers heat between two baths as the particle is dragged. We examine Onsager relation for the heat flow and the particle flow, and show that the reciprocity coefficient is a product of the characteristic heat and the diffusion constant of the particle. The characteristic heat is the heat transfer between the baths associated with a barrier-overcoming process. Because of the correlation between the heat flow and the particle flow, the system can work as a heat pump when the particle is dragged. This pump is particularly effective at molecular scales where the energy barrier is of the order of the thermal energy.
PACS: 05.40.-a – Fluctuation phenomena, random processes, noise, and Brownian motion / 05.60.Cd – Classical transport / 05.70.Ln – Nonequilibrium and irreversible thermodynamics
© EDP Sciences, 2006
Current usage metrics show cumulative count of Article Views (full-text article views including HTML views, PDF and ePub downloads, according to the available data) and Abstracts Views on Vision4Press platform.
Data correspond to usage on the plateform after 2015. The current usage metrics is available 48-96 hours after online publication and is updated daily on week days.
Initial download of the metrics may take a while.