Entropy current and efficiency of quantum machines driven by nonequilibrium incoherent reservoirs

SEBASTIÁN DEGHI; RAÚL A BUSTOS-MARÚN

PHYSICAL REVIEW B

AMER PHYSICAL SOC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2020 vol. 102 p. 45415 - 45415

1098-0121

anotechnology has not only provided us the possibility of developing quantum machines but also noncanonical power sources able to drive them. Here we focus on studying the performance of quantum machines driven by arbitrary combinations of equilibrium reservoirs and a form of engineered reservoirs consisting of noninteracting particles but whose distribution functions are nonthermal. We provide the expressions for calculating the maximum efficiency of those machines without needing any knowledge of how the nonequilibrium reservoirs were actually made.The formulas require the calculation of a new quantity that we termed entropy current, which we also derive. We illustrate our methodology through a solvable toy model where heat ``spontaneously´´ flows against the temperature gradient