Work

Entanglement enhances cooling in microscopic quantum refrigerators

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Small self-contained quantum thermal machines function without external source of work or control but using only incoherent interactions with thermal baths. Here we investigate the role of entanglement in a small self-contained quantum refrigerator. We first show that entanglement is detrimental as far as efficiency is concerned-fridges operating at efficiencies close to the Carnot limit do not feature any entanglement. Moving away from the Carnot regime, we show that entanglement can enhance cooling and energy transport. Hence, a truly quantum refrigerator can outperform a classical one. Furthermore, the amount of entanglement alone quantifies the enhancement in cooling.

Source: Physical Review E

DOI: 10.1103/physreve.89.032115

Authors: Nicolas Brunner, Marcus Huber, Noah Linden, Sandu Popescu, Ralph Silva, Paul Skrzypczyk

Institutions: University of Geneva, University of Bristol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Institute of Photonic Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics

Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, John Templeton Foundation, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Awards: Device-Independent Quantum Information Processing, G307209972, Foundations and Applications of Quantum Mechanics