Weekly seminars

Non-equilibrium Quantum Transport and Quantum ''Heat Engines''

par Michele Mintchev (INFN Pisa)

Europe/Paris
Auditorium (Annecy-le-Vieux)

Auditorium

Annecy-le-Vieux

9 chemin de Bellevue 74940 ANNECY LE VIEUX
Description
We investigate the particle and heat transport in quantum junctions with the geometry of a star graph. The system is in a non-equilibrium steady state, characterised by the temperatures and chemical potentials of the heat reservoirs connected to the edges of the graph. The study of the non-equilibrium expectation values of the particle and heat currents reveals that the junction operates as energy converter, transmuting heat to chemical potential energy and vice versa. It is instructive to introduce an appropriate efficiency coefficient for this process and compare it with that of a heat engine. We also describe the full counting statistics relative to the particle transport in the system and discuss the physical meaning of the underlying probability distribution.