Title
The Unruh quantum Otto engine
Date Issued
01 February 2018
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
de Oliveira T.
Sarandy M.
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
Publisher(s)
Springer Verlag
Abstract
We introduce a quantum heat engine performing an Otto cycle by using the thermal properties of the quantum vacuum. Since Hawking and Unruh, it has been established that the vacuum space, either near a black hole or for an accelerated observer, behaves as a bath of thermal radiation. In this work, we present a fully quantum Otto cycle, which relies on the Unruh effect for a single quantum bit (qubit) in contact with quantum vacuum fluctuations. By using the notions of quantum thermodynamics and perturbation theory we obtain that the quantum vacuum can exchange heat and produce work on the qubit. Moreover, we obtain the efficiency and derive the conditions to have both a thermodynamic and a kinematic cycle in terms of the initial populations of the excited state, which define a range of allowed accelerations for the Unruh engine.
Volume
2018
Issue
2
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Física atómica, molecular y química
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85043299927
Source
Journal of High Energy Physics
ISSN of the container
11266708
Sponsor(s)
Article funded by SCOAP3.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus