Efficiency at maximum power of low-dissipation Carnot engines

We study the efficiency at maximum power, η*, of engines performing finite-time Carnot cycles between a hot and a cold reservoir at temperatures Th and Tc, respectively. For engines reaching Carnot efficiency ηC=1-Tc/Th in the reversible limit (long cycle time, zero dissipation), we find in the limit of low dissipation that η* is bounded from above by ηC/(2-ηC) and from below by ηC/2. These bounds are reached when the ratio of the dissipation during the cold and hot isothermal phases tend, respectively, to zero or infinity. For symmetric dissipation (ratio one) the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency ηCA=1-√Tc/Th] is recovered.     

Chaos and quantum irreversibility

We study the Hamiltonian of a two-level system interacting with a one-mode radiation field by means of the Wigner method and without using the rotating-wave approximation. We show that a phenomenon of collapses and revival, reminiscent of that exhibited by the Jaynes-Cummings model, takes place in the high-coupling limit. This process appears as irreversible or virtually reversible, according to whether the semiclassical regime is chaotic or not. Thus, we find a new mechanism for dissipation in the quantum domain.     

Dissipative death of quantum coherences in a spin system

We investigate the influence of weak dissipation on the dynamics of a kicked spin system. Compared to its classical limit the quantum system is strongly affected by small dissipation. We present the attenuation of two different intrinsically quantum phenomena, recurrencies and tunneling. We find agreement of analytical perturbative estimates and numerical results. We further show that dissipation acts quite differently on the quantum evolution depending on whether we are in a classically chaotic or regular domain.     

A Semiclassical Theory of a Dissipative Henon—Heiles System

A semiclassical theory of a dissipative Henon—Heiles system is proposed. Based on -scaling of an equation for the evolution of the Wigner quasiprobability distribution function in the presence of dissipation and thermal diffusion, we derive a semiclassical equation for quantum fluctuations, governed by the dissipation and the curvature of the classical potential. We show how the initial quantum noise gets amplified by classical chaotic diffusion, which is expressible in terms of a correlation of stochastic fluctuations of the curvature of the potential due to classical chaos, and ultimately settles down to equilibrium under the influence of dissipation. We also establish that there exists a critical limit to the expansion of phase space. The limit is set by chaotic diffusion and dissipation. Our semiclassical analysis is corroborated by numerical simulation of a quantum operator master equation.     

Coexistence of Stable Limit Cycles in a Generalized Curie–Weiss Model with Dissipation

In this paper, we modify the Langevin dynamics associated to the generalized Curie–Weiss model by introducing noisy and dissipative evolution in the interaction potential. We show that, when a zero-mean Gaussian is taken as single-site distribution, the dynamics in the thermodynamic limit can be described by a finite set of ODEs. Depending on the form of the interaction function, the system can have several phase transitions at different critical temperatures. Because of the dissipation effect, not only the magnetization of the systems displays a self-sustained periodic behavior at sufficiently low temperature, but, in certain regimes, any (finite) number of stable limit cycles can exist. We explore some of these peculiarities with explicit examples.     

A quantitative method for a priori evaluation of combustion reaction models

In recent years, direct numerical simulations have been used increasingly to evaluate the validity and performance of combustion reaction models. This study presents a new, quantitative method to determine the ideal model performance attainable by a given parameterization of the state variables. Data from direct numerical simulation (DNS) of unsteady CO/H₂–air jet flames is analysed to determine how well various parameterizations represent the data, and how well specific models based on those parameterizations perform. Results show that the equilibrium model performs poorly relative to an ideal model parameterized by the mixture fraction. The steady laminar flamelet model performs quite well relative to an ideal model parameterized by mixture fraction and dissipation rate in some cases. However, at low dissipation rates or at dissipation rates exceeding the steady extinction limit, the steady flamelet model performs poorly. Interestingly, even in many cases where the steady flamelet model fails (particularly at low dissipation rate), the DNS data suggests that the state may be parameterized well by the mixture fraction and dissipation rate. A progress variable based on the CO₂ mass fraction is proposed, together with a new model based on the CO₂ progress variable. This model performs nearly ideally, and demonstrates the ability to capture extinction with remarkable accuracy for the CO/H₂ flames considered.     

Self-Organized Criticality and Thermodynamic Formalism

We develop a thermodynamic formalism for a dissipative version of the Zhang model of Self-Organized Criticality, where a parameter allows us to tune the local energy dissipation. By constructing a suitable Markov partition we define Gibbs measures (in the sense of Sinai, Ruelle, and Bowen), partition functions, and topological pressure allowing the analysis of probability distributions of avalanches. We discuss the infinite-size limit in this setting. In particular, we show that a Lee–Yang phenomenon occurs in the conservative case. This suggests new connections to classical critical phenomena.     

Effective theories for circuits and automata

Abstracting an effective theory from a complicated process is central to the study of complexity. Even when the underlying mechanisms are understood, or at least measurable, the presence of dissipation and irreversibility in biological, computational, and social systems makes the problem harder. Here, we demonstrate the construction of effective theories in the presence of both irreversibility and noise, in a dynamical model with underlying feedback. We use the Krohn-Rhodes theorem to show how the composition of underlying mechanisms can lead to innovations in the emergent effective theory. We show how dissipation and irreversibility fundamentally limit the lifetimes of these emergent structures, even though, on short timescales, the group properties may be enriched compared to their noiseless counterparts.     

A note on non-equilibrium work fluctuations and equilibrium free energies

We consider in this paper, a few important issues in non-equilibrium work fluctuations and their relations to equilibrium free energies. First we show that the Jarzynski identity can be viewed as a cumulant expansion of work. For a switching process which is nearly quasistatic the work distribution is sharply peaked and Gaussian. We show analytically that dissipation given by average work minus reversible work W_R, decreases when the process becomes more and more quasistatic. Eventually, in the quasistatic reversible limit, the dissipation vanishes. However the estimate of p, the probability of violation of the second law given by the integral of the tail of the work distribution from −∞ to W_R, increases and takes a value of 0.5 in the quasistatic limit. We show this analytically employing Gaussian integrals given by error functions and the Callen-Welton theorem that relates fluctuations to dissipation in process that is nearly quasistatic. Then we carry out Monte Carlo simulation of non-equilibrium processes in a liquid crystal system in the presence of an electric field and present results on reversible work, dissipation, probability of violation of the second law and distribution of work.     

Improving free-energy estimates from unidirectional work measurements: theory and experiment

We derive analytical expressions for the bias of the Jarzynski free-energy estimator from N nonequilibrium work measurements, for a generic work distribution. To achieve this, we map the estimator onto the random energy model in a suitable scaling limit parametrized by (logN)/μ, where μ measures the width of the lower tail of the work distribution, and then compute the finite-N corrections to this limit with different approaches for different regimes of (logN)/μ. We show that these expressions describe accurately the bias for a wide class of work distributions and exploit them to build an improved free-energy estimator from unidirectional work measurements. We apply the method to optical tweezers unfolding and refolding experiments on DNA hairpins of varying loop size and dissipation, displaying both near-Gaussian and non-Gaussian work distributions.     

Decay of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a dissipative lattice – the mean-field approximation and beyond

The dynamical evolution of a Bose-Einstein condensate in an open optical lattice is studied. Based on the Bose-Hubbard model we rederive the mean-field limit for the case of an environmental coupling including dissipation and phase-noise. Moreover, we include the next order correlation functions to investigate the dynamical behavior beyond mean field. We observe that particle loss can lead to surprising dynamics, as it can suppress decay and at the same time restore the coherence of the condensate. These behavior can be used to engineer the evolution, e.g. in the form of a stochastic resonance-like response, to inhibit tunneling or to create stable nonlinear structures of the condensate.     

偶极玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体中的各向异性耗散

针对偶极相互作用的玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体,解析计算了点状杂质沿平行极化轴和垂直极化轴运动的能量耗散率,证明了在超流临界速度更大的方向上耗散率也更高.该结论为最近在162Dy原子气体中观测到的实验现象提供了理论支持.对于一般的运动方向,给出了耗散率在高速极限下以及临界速度附近的渐近形式.结合数值计算的结果,论证了耗散率随方向角的变化总是表现出与临界速度一致的各向异性.     

Anharmonic Oscillator Driven by Additive Ornstein–Uhlenbeck Noise

We present an analytical study of a nonlinear oscillator subject to an additive Ornstein–Uhlenbeck noise. Known results are mainly perturbative and are restricted to the large dissipation limit (obtained by neglecting the inertial term) or to a quasi-white noise (i.e., a noise with vanishingly small correlation time). Here, in contrast, we study the small dissipation case (we retain the inertial term) and consider a noise with finite correlation time. Our analysis is non perturbative and based on a recursive adiabatic elimination scheme a reduced effective Langevin dynamics for the slow action variable is obtained after averaging out the fast angular variable. In the conservative case, we show that the physical observables grow algebraically with time and calculate the associated anomalous scaling exponents and generalized diffusion constants. In the case of small dissipation, we derive an analytic expression of the stationary probability distribution function (PDF) which differs from the canonical Boltzmann–Gibbs distribution. Our results are in excellent agreement with numerical simulations.     

Scaling,propagation, and kinetic roughening of flame fronts in random media

We introduce a model of two coupled reaction-diffusion equations to describe the dynamics and propagation of flame fronts in random media. The model incorporates heat diffusion, its dissipation, and its production through coupling to the background reactant density. We first show analytically and numerically that there is a finite critical value of the background density below which the front associated with the temperature field stops propagating. The critical exponents associated with this transition are shown to be consistent with meanfield theory of percolation. Second, we study the kinetic roughening associated with a moving planar flame front above the critical density. By numerically calculating the time-dependent width and equal-time height correlation function of the front, we demonstrate that the roughening process belongs to the universality class of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang interface equation. Finally, we show how this interface equation can be analytically derived from our model in the limit of almost uniform background density.     

Quantization of the kicked rotator with dissipation

The effect of dissipation on a quantum system exhibiting chaos in its classical limit is studied by coupling the kicked quantum rotator to a reservoir with angular momentum exchange. A master equation is derived which maps the density matrix from one kick to the subsequent one. Several limiting cases are investigated. The limits of 0 and of vanishing dissipation serve as tests of consistency, in reproducing the maps of the classical kicked damped rotator and of the kicked quantum rotator, respectively. In the limit of strong dissipation the classical map reduces to a circle map. A quantum map corresponding to the circle map is therefore obtained in this limit. In the limit of infinite dissipation the density matrix becomes independent of the initial condition after a single application of the map, allowing for a simple analytical solution for the density matrix. In the semi-classical limit the quantum map reduces to a classical map with quantum mechanically determined classical noise terms, which are evaluated. For sufficiently small dissipation the physical character of the leading quantum corrections changes. Quantum mechanical interference effects then render the Wigner distribution negative in some parts of phase space and prevent its interpretation in classical terms. Numerical results will be presented in a subsequent paper.     

Extended local balance model of turbulence and couette-taylor flow

An extended local balance model of turbulence, based on a new transport equation for the dissipation rate with a negative diffusion coefficient, is presented. Analytical solutions for the mean velocity and the dissipation rate for the turbulent Couette-Taylor problem are derived. The dependence of torque on the Reynolds number is obtained. These solutions depend only on two constants k=0.4 and C=9.5 of the turbulent boundary layer and, within the limits of a narrow channel, are reduced to the well-known von Karman's solutions for planar Couette flow. Strange attractor behavior in this limit is also observed.     

Thermal relaxation of systems with quadratic heat bath coupling: I. Classical systems

We consider the evolution of systems whose coupling to the heat bath is quadratic in the bath coordinates. Performing an explicit elimination of the bath variables we arrive at an equation of evolution for the system variables alone. In the weak coupling limit we show that the equation is of the generalized Langevin form, with fluctuations that are Gaussian and that obey a fluctuation-dissipation relation. If the system-bath coupling is linear in the system coordinates the resulting fluctuations are additive and the dissipation is linear. If the coupling is nonlinear in the system coordinates, the resulting fluctuations are multiplicative and the dissipation is nonlinear.