Abstract
We investigate the fundamental dimensional limits to thermodynamic machines. In particular, we show that it is possible to construct self-contained refrigerators (i.e., not requiring external sources of work) consisting of only a small number of qubits and/or qutrits. We present three different models, consisting of two qubits, a qubit and a qutrit with nearest-neighbor interactions, and a single qutrit, respectively. We then investigate the fundamental limits to their performance; in particular, we show that it is possible to cool towards absolute zero.
Translated title of the contribution | How small can thermal machines be? The smallest possible refrigerator |
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Original language | English |
Article number | 130401 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-4 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Physical Review Letters |
Volume | 105 |
Issue number | 13 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 21 Sep 2010 |