The quantum refrigerator: The quest for absolute zero

Y. Rezek; P. Salamon; K. H. Hoffmann; R. Kosloff

doi:10.1209/0295-5075/85/30008

All issues

Volume 85 / No 3 (February 2009)

EPL, 85 3 (2009) 30008

Abstract

Issue		EPL Volume 85, Number 3, February 2009


Article Number		30008
Number of page(s)		5
Section		General
DOI		https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/85/30008
Published online		13 February 2009

EPL, 85 (2009) 30008

The quantum refrigerator: The quest for absolute zero

Y. Rezek¹, P. Salamon², K. H. Hoffmann³ and R. Kosloff¹

¹ Fritz Haber Research Center for Molecular Dynamics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Jerusalem, 91904, Israel
² Department of Mathematical Science, San Diego State University - San Diego, CA, 92182, USA
³ Physics Institute, Technical University of Chemnitz - Chemnitz, D-09107 Germany, EU

Corresponding author: yair.rezek@mail.huji.ac.il

Received: 17 November 2008
Accepted: 18 January 2009

Abstract

The emergence of the laws of thermodynamics from the laws of quantum mechanics is an unresolved issue. The generation of the third law of thermodynamics from quantum dynamics is analysed. The scaling of the optimal cooling power of a reciprocating quantum refrigerator is sought as a function of the cold bath temperature as T_c $\rightarrow$ 0. The working medium consists of noninteracting particles in a harmonic potential. Two closed-form solutions of the refrigeration cycle are analyzed, and compared to a numerical optimization scheme, focusing on cooling toward zero temperature. The optimal cycle is characterized by linear relations between the heat extracted from the cold bath, the energy level spacing of the working medium and the temperature. The scaling of the optimal cooling rate is found to be proportional to $T_{c}^{3/2}$ giving a dynamical interpretation to the third law of thermodynamics.

PACS: 05.30.-d – Quantum statistical mechanics / 05.70.-a – Thermodynamics / 07.20.Pe – Heat engines; heat pumps; heat pipes

© EPLA, 2009

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.