Thermodynamic Bound on Heat-to-Power Conversion

Area of Science:

• Thermodynamics
• Statistical Mechanics
• Condensed Matter Physics

Background:

• Scattering theory typically imposes efficiency limits below the Carnot limit for steady-state heat-to-work conversion.
• Previous models assumed non-interacting systems, restricting achievable efficiencies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if interacting systems can overcome established efficiency bounds.
• To explore the potential for achieving Carnot efficiency in heat-to-work conversion.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical analysis of interacting systems within the framework of scattering theory.
• Thermodynamic limit analysis to evaluate system behavior at large scales.

Main Results:

• Interacting systems can exceed the upper bound on efficiency previously established for non-interacting systems.
• These systems can approach the more favorable linear-response bound in the thermodynamic limit.
• High efficiencies are achievable without significant power reduction, unlike delta-energy filtering methods.

Conclusions:

• Interactions in thermodynamic systems enable surpassing conventional efficiency limits.
• The findings suggest new pathways for designing more efficient heat engines.
• This work opens avenues for exploring Carnot efficiency in practical systems without sacrificing power output.