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Phase Transition in Protocols Minimizing Work Fluctuations.

Alexandre P Solon¹, Jordan M Horowitz¹

¹Physics of Living Systems Group, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 400 Technology Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.

Physical Review Letters

|May 19, 2018

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers optimized work and its fluctuations in driven mesoscopic systems. For quantum dots, optimal protocols exhibit a phase transition, unlike harmonic oscillators, showing distinct behaviors.

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Area of Science:

Thermodynamics
Mesoscopic Physics
Statistical Mechanics

Background:

Understanding work dissipation in driven mesoscopic systems is crucial for energy efficiency and control.
Finite-time thermodynamics explores trade-offs between work, fluctuations, and efficiency in non-equilibrium processes.

Purpose of the Study:

To numerically determine optimal finite-time protocols for minimizing work dissipation and its standard deviation in driven mesoscopic systems.
To investigate the behavior of these optimal protocols for a harmonically trapped Brownian particle and a quantum dot.

Main Methods:

Numerical determination of finite-time protocols.
Optimization of the compromise between the mean and standard deviation of dissipated work.
Analysis of protocol space transitions and their implications.

Main Results:

For a harmonic oscillator, a smooth trade-off between average work and its fluctuations was observed.
For a quantum dot, a first-order phase transition-like phenomenon was found in protocol space.
Two distinct optimal protocols for quantum dots were identified, exhibiting unique properties even in the infinite duration limit.

Conclusions:

The nature of optimal work-fluctuation protocols differs significantly between simple harmonic systems and more complex systems like quantum dots.
Quantum dots display a phase transition in their optimal work protocols, leading to distinct behaviors not seen in harmonic oscillators.
Optimal work-fluctuation protocols for quantum dots do not necessarily converge to minimal work protocols, highlighting unique non-equilibrium dynamics.