Nonstochastic quantum engine.

Abstract

A nonstochastic quantum engine is one that operates in a cycle of transformations in which no sources of stochasticity, such as thermal baths and projective measurements, are present and, therefore, no entropy is generated in the driven system. Defining work and heat as the energy corresponding to different types of transformations between pure states, we arrive at an expression similar to the first law of thermodynamics and prove a version of the Kelvin-Planck statement for the second law of thermodynamics. Essentially, the first law can be obtained thanks to the normalization condition of a quantum state and the second law can be obtained thanks to the orthogonalization condition between energy eigenstates. For nonstochastic engines that operate between two given energy gaps, we prove a version of Carnot's theorem. Regarding operationalization, we present a protocol that leads the system through a cycle in which heat exchange occurs by performing two quantum quenches separated by a precise time interval and involving an energy-level anticrossing. Furthermore, with this protocol it is possible to make the engine's efficiency as close to 1 as one wants; however, efficiency equal to 1 is a case prohibited by the version of the Kelvin-Planck statement that we proved. Finally, we illustrate these results in an exactly solvable single-qubit model.