Work extraction from quantum systems (M. Perarnau)

  • Date: Mar 24, 2015
  • Time: 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Martí Perarnau, ICFO - The Institute of Photonic Sciences, Barcelona, Spanien
  • Room: B 2.46
  • Host: MPQ, Theory Division
Traditional thermodynamics deals with macroscopic systems in thermal equilibrium, where one only has control over a few macroscopic variables (volume, temperature, etc).

This minimal level of control is in contrast with the great progress over the last decades in the coherent control of single quantum systems. Based on the notion of passive states, in this talk I will describe an extension of the standard notions of thermodynamics (in particular the problem of work extraction) for highly controllable small quantum systems. Concretely, I will discuss how the maximal work extraction principle is modified in the presence of entangling operations, correlations, finite baths, and strong system-bath interactions.

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