Quantum Engine Combines Power with Ideal Efficiency ⚡ экспресс
A fundamental question in finite-time thermodynamics is whether Carnot efficiency can be reached at finite power. For classical Markovian engines with local interactions, the power-efficiency trade-off prohibits asymptotic approach to Carnot efficiency. It was theoretically predicted that in quantum systems, degeneracy, symmetry, and collective transitions could lift this restriction through enhanced activity. However, it remained unclear whether such a mechanism could be realized experimentally. This work proposes a heat engine design based on superconducting circuits that emulates collective enhancement, enabling asymptotic approach to Carnot efficiency at finite power. The result demonstrates how collectively enhanced dissipative processes can circumvent the classical limit. The study connects the abstract bounds of finite-time thermodynamics to the concrete platform of circuit quantum electrodynamics and outlines a path toward engineering quantum devices using such processes.
Ordinary engines suffer from an irreconcilable conflict: the higher the power, the more the efficiency drops. The reason is energy dissipation, which physicists call an increase in entropy—a measure of disorder.
Quantum laws offer a workaround. When many microscopic systems, like superconducting circuits, work not separately but as a single ensemble, collective amplification emerges. It’s like the synchronized flashing of fireflies: each individual acts in unison with the others, producing a bright flash without extra noise. Here too, quantum elements, coherently switching states, deliver clean energy.
Theoretically, such an engine almost reaches the ideal calculated by Ludwig Boltzmann for the Carnot cycle. The principle is similar to the operation of a laser, discovered by Max Planck: many atoms emit photons synchronously. In the proposed device, transitions between states in superconducting structures are synchronized—the discovery of which earned John Bardeen a Nobel Prize. The process is controlled using highly precise photometry (measurement of light). This erases the classical trade-off, promising future engines—powerful and almost lossless.
🎯 In household appliances, up to 60–70% of energy is lost as heat due to friction. In quantum systems, this friction vanishes: instead, collective amplification kicks in, allowing close to 100% of the theoretically possible efficiency. Such an engine could run almost loss-free.