Issue |
EPL
Volume 89, Number 2, January 2010
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 20003 | |
Number of page(s) | 6 | |
Section | General | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/89/20003 | |
Published online | 01 February 2010 |
Finite-time thermodynamics for a single-level quantum dot
1
Center for Nonlinear Phenomena and Complex Systems, Université Libre de Bruxelles - B-1050 Brussels, Belgium, EU
2
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and BioCircuit Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0340, USA
3
Department of Physics, University of Alabama at Birmingham - Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
4
Hasselt University - B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium, EU
Received:
21
September
2009
Accepted:
21
December
2009
We investigate the finite-time thermodynamics of a single-level fermion system interacting with a particle reservoir. The optimal protocol to extract the maximum work from the system when moving the single energy level between an initial higher value and a final lower value in a finite time is calculated from a quantum master equation. The calculation also yields the optimal protocol to raise the energy level with the expenditure of the least amount of work on the system. The optimal protocol displays discontinuous jumps at the initial and final times.
PACS: 05.70.Ln – Nonequilibrium and irreversible thermodynamics / 05.30.-d – Quantum statistical mechanics / 05.20.-y – Classical statistical mechanics
© EPLA, 2010
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.