Quasiperiodic quantum heat engines with a mobility edge
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2020Access:
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Chiaracane C and Mitchison MT and Purkayastha A and Haack G and Goold J, Quasiperiodic quantum heat engines with a mobility edge, Physical Review Research, 2, 1, 2020, 013093 - 013105Download Item:
Abstract:
Steady-state thermoelectric machines convert heat into work by driving a thermally generated charge current against a voltage gradient. In this work, we propose a new class of steady-state heat engines operating in the quantum regime, where a quasiperiodic tight-binding model that features a mobility edge forms the working medium. In particular, we focus on a generalization of the paradigmatic Aubry-André-Harper (AAH) model, known to display a single-particle mobility edge that separates the energy spectrum into regions of completely delocalized and localized eigenstates. Remarkably, these two regions can be exploited in the context of steady-state heat engines as they correspond to ballistic and insulating transport regimes. This model also presents the advantage that the position of the mobility edge can be controlled via a single parameter in the Hamiltonian. We exploit this highly tunable energy filter, along with the peculiar spectral structure of quasiperiodic systems, to demonstrate large thermoelectric effects, exceeding existing predictions by several orders of magnitude. This opens the route to a new class of highly efficient and versatile quasiperiodic steady-state heat engines, with a possible implementation using ultracold neutral atoms in bichromatic optical lattices.
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http://people.tcd.ie/gooldjhttp://people.tcd.ie/mitchism
http://people.tcd.ie/purkayaa
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Physical Review Research2
1
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bichromatic optical lattices, Steady-state thermoelectric machines, voltage gradient, Quantum Physics, Statistical Mechanics, Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics, Disordered Systems and Neural NetworksDOI:
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.013093Metadata
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