Fundamental limits for cooling of linear quantum refrigerators.

We study the asymptotic dynamics of arbitrary linear quantum open systems that are periodically driven while coupled with generic bosonic reservoirs. We obtain exact results for the heat flowing from each reservoir, and these results are valid beyond the weak-coupling or Markovian approximations. We prove the validity of the dynamical third law of thermodynamics (Nernst unattainability principle), showing that the ultimate limit for cooling is imposed by a fundamental heating mechanism that dominates at low temperatures, namely the nonresonant creation of excitation pairs in the reservoirs induced by the driving field. This quantum effect, which is missed in the weak-coupling approximation, restores the unattainability principle, the validity of which was recently challenged.

[1]  Lian-Ao Wu,et al.  No-go theorem for ground state cooling given initial system-thermal bath factorization , 2013, Scientific Reports.

[2]  Lorenza Viola,et al.  Quantum resources for purification and cooling: fundamental limits and opportunities , 2014, Scientific Reports.

[3]  Juha Hassel,et al.  Dynamical Casimir effect in a Josephson metamaterial , 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[4]  Ronnie Kosloff,et al.  Quantum absorption refrigerator. , 2011, Physical review letters.

[5]  Michal Horodecki,et al.  The second laws of quantum thermodynamics , 2013, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[6]  Paul Skrzypczyk,et al.  How small can thermal machines be? The smallest possible refrigerator. , 2009, Physical review letters.

[7]  J. Rossnagel,et al.  Single-ion heat engine at maximum power. , 2012, Physical review letters.

[8]  G. Kurizki,et al.  Quantum bath refrigeration towards absolute zero: challenging the unattainability principle. , 2012, Physical review letters.

[9]  Ronnie Kosloff,et al.  Quantum refrigerators and the third law of thermodynamics. , 2012, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[10]  Nahuel Freitas,et al.  Analytic solution for heat flow through a general harmonic network. , 2014, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[11]  E. Mucciolo,et al.  Microscopic model of a phononic refrigerator , 2012, 1203.2561.

[12]  Dominik Janzing,et al.  Thermodynamic limits of dynamic cooling. , 2011, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[13]  J. Paz,et al.  Dynamics and thermodynamics of linear quantum open systems. , 2012, Physical review letters.

[14]  Jingning Zhang,et al.  Experimental test of the quantum Jarzynski equality with a trapped-ion system , 2014, Nature Physics.

[15]  Karl Joulain,et al.  Quantum Thermal Transistor. , 2016, Physical review letters.

[16]  L. Arrachea,et al.  Nonequilibrium Green's functions in the study of heat transport of driven nanomechanical systems , 2012, 1212.3181.

[17]  Ronnie Kosloff,et al.  Quantum Thermodynamics: A Dynamical Viewpoint , 2013, Entropy.

[18]  A. Pourkabirian,et al.  Observation of the dynamical Casimir effect in a superconducting circuit , 2011, Nature.

[19]  J. Pekola.  Towards quantum thermodynamics in electronic circuits , 2015, Nature Physics.

[20]  G. Benenti,et al.  Dynamical Casimir effect and minimal temperature in quantum thermodynamics , 2014, 1412.4819.

[21]  C. Van den Broeck,et al.  Cooling by heating: refrigeration powered by photons. , 2012, Physical review letters.

[22]  J. Anders,et al.  Quantum thermodynamics , 2015, 1508.06099.