Ramanujan Auditorium

Quantum thermal engines and quantum control

Ronnie Kosloff

Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem

Thermodynamics emerged from the proposition of Carnot of a universal engine which efficiency is determined by the temperature ratio of the hot and cold baths. The common conception that thermodynamics is that it applies to macroscopic engines. Recent
progress in quantum thermodynamics have established thermodynamical principles down to the level of a single quantum system. In addition quantum mechanics supplies a dynamical viewpoint enabling the study of systems out of equilibration. I will demonstrate how
dynamical symmetries lead to thermodynamically consistent equation of motion. The equations are employed to construct quantum finite-time versions of heat engines and refrigerators exploring the tradeoff between power and efficiency. Quantum control aims to
obtain a time-dependent control field able to execute a desired task. The ultimate control task is to perform a quantum gate in a thermal dissipative environment. Quantum thermodynamics generates the control scenario for entropy changing transformations. I will
demonstrate the control of unitary and non-unitary gates and their thermodynamical price in work and heat.