Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

The Carnot Cycle01:30

The Carnot Cycle

Converting work to heat is an irreversible process, and the purpose of a heat engine is to reverse the effect partially. Heat engines aim to increase the efficiency of the reversal, that is, maximize the work retrieved from heat. If the efficiency of a heat engine were 100%, it would imply reversing the process completely without introducing any other effect. Thus, it would violate the second law of thermodynamics.
What could be the theoretical limit to the efficiency of a heat engine? The...
Maximum Power Transfer01:16

Maximum Power Transfer

Numerous practical applications within engineering disciplines, such as telecommunications, necessitate optimizing power delivery to a connected load. This pursuit, however, entails inherent internal losses, which can either equal or exceed the power supplied to the load. The Thevenin equivalent circuit is helpful in finding the maximum power a linear circuit can deliver to a load. It is assumed in this context that the load resistance can be adjusted.
By substituting the entire circuit with...
Carnot Cycle and Efficiency01:26

Carnot Cycle and Efficiency

The Second Law of Thermodynamics asserts that it's impossible for any heat engine to achieve 100% efficiency. While contemplating the maximum possible efficiency, Nicolas Sadi Carnot conceptualized an ideal heat engine. This engine gets its energy from a high-temperature reservoir. It then performs some work and releases the remaining energy into a low-temperature reservoir.The Carnot cycle, named after Sadi Carnot, is fully reversible. The cycle consists of four distinct stages. In the first...
The Carnot Cycle and the Second Law of Thermodynamics01:20

The Carnot Cycle and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

The Carnot engine works between two heat reservoirs of fixed temperatures. The Carnot cycle begs the following question: Is it possible to devise a heat engine that is more efficient than a Carnot engine between two fixed temperatures? The answer lies in designing a Carnot refrigerator.
Since the individual steps in a Carnot cycle can be reversed, the entire cycle is, thus, reversible. If a Carnot cycle is reversed, it becomes a Carnot refrigerator. It extracts heat Qc from a cold reservoir at...
Efficiency of The Carnot Cycle01:16

Efficiency of The Carnot Cycle

The hypothetical Carnot cycle consists of an ideal gas subjected to two isothermal and two adiabatic processes. Since the internal energy of an ideal gas depends only on its temperature, which is the same before and after the completion of the Carnot cycle, there is no change in its internal energy. Hence, using the first law of thermodynamics, the total heat exchanged by the ideal gas equals the total work done. Thus, we can quantify the efficiency of the Carnot cycle via the heat exchanged...
Heat Engines01:10

Heat Engines

A heat engine is a device used to extract heat from a source and then convert it into mechanical work used for various applications. For example, a steam engine on an old-style train can produce the work needed for driving the train.
Whenever we consider heat engines (and associated devices such as refrigerators and heat pumps), we do not use the standard sign convention for heat and work. For convenience, we assume that the symbols Qh, Qc, and W represent only the amounts of heat transferred...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Evidence-Based Clinical Recommendations for the Appropriate Use of Diagnostic Tests in Pediatric Allergology: Focus on Asthma, Rhinoconjunctivitis, and Keratoconjunctivitis Vernal.

Journal of clinical medicine·2026
Same author

Integrated covariances as excess observables weighted by currents and activities.

Physical review. E·2026
Same author

Estimating the Post-Mortem Interval Under Extreme Heat Environments: A Climate-Adaptive Case Series Based on Artificial Intelligence-Supported Diagnostics.

Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same author

Generative artificial intelligence in forensic medicine: a pilot study on AI-simulated medico-legal reports in healthcare liability cases.

International journal of legal medicine·2026
Same author

Synchronization of thermodynamically consistent stochastic phase oscillators.

Physical review. E·2026
Same author

Nonequilibrium fluctuation-response relations for state-current correlations.

Physical review. E·2026
Same journal

Tension on dsDNA bound to ssDNA-RecA filaments may play an important role in driving efficient and accurate homology recognition and strand exchange.

Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics·2016
Same journal

Publisher's Note: Amplitude-phase coupling drives chimera states in globally coupled laser networks [Phys. Rev. E 91, 040901(R) (2015)].

Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics·2016
Same journal

Erratum: Shapes of sedimenting soft elastic capsules in a viscous fluid [Phys. Rev. E 92, 033003 (2015)].

Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics·2016
Same journal

Erratum: Attenuation of excitation decay rate due to collective effect [Phys. Rev. E 90, 022142 (2014)].

Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics·2016
Same journal

Publisher's Note: Role of connectivity and fluctuations in the nucleation of calcium waves in cardiac cells [Phys. Rev. E 92, 052715 (2015)].

Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics·2016
Same journal

Publisher's Note: Lattice Boltzmann approach for complex nonequilibrium flows [Phys. Rev. E 92, 043308 (2015)].

Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics·2016
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Silicon Metal-oxide-semiconductor Quantum Dots for Single-electron Pumping
14:58

Silicon Metal-oxide-semiconductor Quantum Dots for Single-electron Pumping

Published on: June 3, 2015

Quantum-dot Carnot engine at maximum power.

Massimiliano Esposito1, Ryoichi Kawai, Katja Lindenberg

  • 1Center for Nonlinear Phenomena and Complex Systems, Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP 231, Campus Plaine, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.

Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
|May 21, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study analyzes the maximum power efficiency of quantum-dot Carnot heat engines. Results confirm universal coefficients and recover Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency under specific conditions.

More Related Videos

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators
09:23

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators

Published on: May 30, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Silicon Metal-oxide-semiconductor Quantum Dots for Single-electron Pumping
14:58

Silicon Metal-oxide-semiconductor Quantum Dots for Single-electron Pumping

Published on: June 3, 2015

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators
09:23

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators

Published on: May 30, 2014

Area of Science:

  • Quantum thermodynamics
  • Nanoscale heat engines

Background:

  • Quantum dots offer unique platforms for studying thermodynamic processes.
  • Carnot heat engines represent the theoretical limit of thermodynamic efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficiency at maximum power of a quantum-dot Carnot heat engine.
  • To analyze the universal coefficients governing engine performance.
  • To investigate the relationship between dissipation and efficiency.

Main Methods:

  • Theoretical modeling of a quantum-dot Carnot heat engine.
  • Analysis of coefficients at linear and quadratic order in temperature gradient.
  • Examination of the weak dissipation limit.

Main Results:

  • The universal values of performance coefficients were successfully reproduced.
  • The engine's efficiency at maximum power was determined.
  • Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency was recovered in the limit of weak dissipation.

Conclusions:

  • Quantum-dot Carnot heat engines exhibit universal thermodynamic properties.
  • The theoretical framework accurately describes engine performance.
  • Dissipation plays a critical role in engine efficiency, aligning with established theories.