When rowers move in sync, the boat flies forward without wasted effort. Particles in quantum thermodynamics behave similarly: they can be brought into a single quantum state – like setting a shared rhythm. Then energy transfer accelerates hundreds of times, and entropy (a measure of chaos) hardly grows, even though fast processes usually always come with heating.

The secret lies in the exchange of quantum information and entanglement between particles – this bypasses classical limitations. A car engine heats up more the faster it spins. A quantum 'engine', thanks to collective effects, revs up almost without heat loss.

Physicists modeled this process using the idea of 'Maxwell's demon' – a thought device from 1871 that could pump heat against the second law. Numerical simulations confirmed: collective work amplifies the transfer. This paves the way to quantum batteries whose charging time shrinks in proportion to the square of the number of particles. Requirements: maintaining quantum coherence and accounting for the uncertainty principle. The legacy of John von Neumann on information and energy is finding practical embodiment.