Quantum heat engines

对于真正的量子过程在量子热机中的作用，目前还缺乏基本的理解。虽然已经有了强大的理论工具来描述量子热机在微扰区的工作，但还需要建立一个一致的非微扰方法的模拟平台来捕捉非绝热区域，或非常低的温度和强耦合，或工作剂和浴液之间的量子关联。在实验方面，基于控制单粒子和多粒子系统的出色进展，无论是使用超冷原子或离子晶体，还是使用色心等固态系统，我们已经看到了第一个已经实现的经典微型热机。然而，到目前为止，在量子区域深处运行的热机或量子制冷机只是被提出，但尚未在实验中实现。该项目的关键是探索专门的实验性量子热机，即单个囚禁离子或离子晶体、超冷原子或钻石中的氮空位中心。因此，我们的目标是克服这一研究领域的一个重大障碍。这些平台的共同之处是对相关自由度的出色控制，如相互作用的自旋和运动量子态。在与理论的密切合作中，我们将识别和表征这种热机中的量子。我们将揭示量子涨落的作用，并研究它们如何影响量子热机的运行，或者先进的多粒子方案如何在量子体制中提供资产。在此基础上，我们的目标是确定协议，在这些协议中，适当应用设计的系统-浴缸相互作用可以增强量子热机和量子冰箱的功率。

A fundamental understanding of the role of genuine quantum processes in quantum heat engines is currently lacking. While powerful theoretical tools exist to describe the operations of quantum heat engines in perturbative regimes, a consistent simulation platform for a non-perturbative approach needs yet to be formulated in order to capture non-adiabatic regimes, or very low temperatures and strong couplings, or quantum correlations between work agent and baths. On the experimental side, and based on the excellent progress for controlling single- and multi-particle systems, either with ultra-cold atoms or ion crystals or solid-state systems such as colour centres, we have seen first classical micro heat-engines that have been realised. However, heat engines operating deep in the quantum regime, or quantum refrigerators have only been proposed but not experimentally realised so far.Key to this project is exploring dedicated experimental quantum heat engines namely, single trapped ions or ion crystals, ultra-cold atoms or Nitrogen-Vacancy centres in diamonds. We thus aim at overcoming a significant boleneck in this research field. Common to these platforms is an excellent control of the relevant degrees of freedom such as interacting spins and motional quantum states. In close collaboration with theory we will identify and characterize quantumness in such heat engines. We will reveal the role of quantum fluctuations and investigate how they aect the operation of quantum heat engines, or how advanced multi-particle schemes may provide assets in the quantum regime. Building upon this, we aim for the identification of protocols in which an appropriate application of designed system-bath interactions allows for an enhancement of the power in quantum heat engines and quantum refrigerators.