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How much work can a quantum device extract from a heat engine?

TYPETheor./Math. Physics Seminar
Speaker:Dr David Gelbwasser
Affiliation:Weizmann
Date:17.11.2013
Time:14:30
Location:Lewiner Seminar Room (412)
Abstract:The second law of thermodynamics makes an essential difference between heat and work. Work
can be completely transformed to heat in a cyclic process, yet the opposite is not true. While at
the classical level there is a standard and well established definition of work, this is not the case
at the quantum level. If two quantum systems exchange energy, how is it divided into work and
heat? This question has important implications on the limits that thermodynamics sets to the performance of quantum devices, in particular to quantum heat machines.