Quantum work capacitances: Ultimate limits for energy extraction on noisy quantum batteries

Abstract

We present a theoretical analysis of the energy recovery efficiency for quantum batteries composed of many identical quantum cells undergoing noise. While the possibility of using quantum effects to speed up the charging processes of batteries have been vastly investigated, In order to traslate these ideas into working devices it is crucial to assess the stability of the storage phase in the quantum battery elements when they are in contact with environmental noise. In this work we formalize this problem introducing a series of operationally well defined figures of merit (the work capacitances and the Maximal Asymptotic Work/Energy Ratios) which gauge the highest efficiency one can attain in recovering useful energy from quantum battery models that are formed by large collections of identical and independent elements (quantum cells or q-cells). Explicit evaluations of such quantities are presented for the case where the energy storing system undergoes through dephasing and depolarizing noise.