Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics on the Nanoscale

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Eric Lutz
• Subject Area: Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics
• Term: from 2012 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 212221307

• Final Report Year: 2016

Final Report Abstract

The aim of the project was to investigate the general thermodynamic properties of nanosystems far from thermal equilibrium. Special emphasis was put on the design, characterization and control of nanodevices, such as quantum heat engines, operating in the nonequilibrium regime. In the first part, we have developed a general framework to quantify the performance of a quantum Otto engine for a driven harmonic oscillator. In particular, we have characterized the finite-time efficiency and power of the quantum motor when coupled to generic nonequilibrium reservoirs. We have further discussed the concrete applications to coherent, entangled and squeezed reservoirs. We have additionally analyzed the first single atom nanoengine realized with an ultracold trapped ion. In the second part of the project, we have examined the nonequilibrium transport properties of cold atoms in periodic optical lattices. Specifically, we have shown that the description of diffusion in the nonergodic regime, where the Boltzmann-Gibbs statistics fails to apply, requires an extension of both the Green-Kubo relation and the Wiener-Khinchin theorem. We have moreover analyzed the experimental approach to ergodicity of a single atom in an optical lattice. In the last part, we have studied the thermodynamics of a weakly measured quantum system. We have extended the first and second laws of thermodynamics along single quantum trajectories and shown that fluctuations theorems, such as the Jarzynski nonequilibrium work equality, are verified.

Publications

• Beyond Boltzmann-Gibbs statistical mechanics in optical lattices, Nature Phys. 9, 615 (2013)
  E. Lutz and F. Renzoni
  
• Efficiency of heat engines coupled to nonequilibrium reservoirs, EPL 106, 20001 (2014)
  O. Abah and E. Lutz
  
• Nanoscale engine beyond the Carnot limit, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 03602 (2014)
  J. Roßnagel, O. Abah, F. Schmidt-Kaler, K. Singer, and E. Lutz
  
• Information: From Maxwell’s demon to Landauer’s eraser, Physics Today 68(9), 30 (2015)
  E. Lutz and S. Ciliberto
  
• Infinite density for cold atoms in shallow optical lattices, EPL 109, 23001 (2015)
  P.C. Holz, A. Dechant, and E. Lutz
  
• Wiener-Khinchin theorem for nonstationary scale-invariant processes, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 080603 (2015)
  A. Dechant and E. Lutz
  
• A single-atom heat engine, Science 352, 325 (2016)
  J. Roßnagel, S.T. Dawkins, K.N. Tolazzi, O. Abah, E. Lutz, F. Schmidt-Kaler, and K. Singer
  
• Nonergodic diffusion of single atoms in a periodic potential, Nature Phys. (2016)
  F. Kindermann, A. Dechant, M. Hohmann, T. Lausch, D. Mayer, F. Schmidt, E. Lutz and A. Widera
  
• Optimal performance of a quantum Otto refrigerator, EPL 113, 60002 (2016)
  O. Abah and E. Lutz
  
• Thermodynamics of weakly measured quantum systems, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 080403 (2016)
  J.J. Alonso, E. Lutz, and A. Romito