双稳系统的随机能量共振和作功效率

分析了处于双稳系统中的布朗粒子与外界的周期性外力和热随机力的功、热交互作用,建立了基于Langevin方程的随机能量平衡方程.围绕着受周期力、随机力和阻尼力共同作用的Langevin方程,采用动力学和非平衡热力学相结合的方法,从以"力"为立足点转到以"能量"为研究核心,深入分析了布朗粒子沿单一轨线运动时系统与环境之间的能量交换和作功效率,揭示了双稳系统的随机能量共振现象. 关键词： 双稳系统 随机能量共振 作功效率     

Reprint of : Thermoelectricity without absorbing energy from the heat sources

We analyze the power output of a quantum dot machine coupled to two electronic reservoirs via thermoelectric contacts, and to two thermal reservoirs – one hot and one cold. This machine is a nanoscale analogue of a conventional thermocouple heat-engine, in which the active region being heated is unavoidably also exchanging heat with its cold environment. Heat exchange between the dot and the thermal reservoirs is treated as a capacitive coupling to electronic fluctuations in localized levels, modeled as two additional quantum dots. The resulting multiple-dot setup is described using a master equation approach. We observe an “exotic” power generation, which remains finite even when the heat absorbed from the thermal reservoirs is zero (in other words the heat coming from the hot reservoir all escapes into the cold environment). This effect can be understood in terms of a non-local effect in which the heat flow from heat source to the cold environment generates power via a mechanism which we refer to as Coulomb heat drag. It relies on the fact that there is no relaxation in the quantum dot system, so electrons within it have a non-thermal energy distribution. More poetically, one can say that we find a spatial separation of the first-law of thermodynamics (heat to work conversion) from the second-law of thermodynamics (generation of entropy). We present circumstances in which this non-thermal system can generate more power than any conventional macroscopic thermocouple (with local thermalization), even when the latter works with Carnot efficiency.     

Thermoelectricity without absorbing energy from the heat sources

We analyze the power output of a quantum dot machine coupled to two electronic reservoirs via thermoelectric contacts, and to two thermal reservoirs – one hot and one cold. This machine is a nanoscale analogue of a conventional thermocouple heat-engine, in which the active region being heated is unavoidably also exchanging heat with its cold environment. Heat exchange between the dot and the thermal reservoirs is treated as a capacitive coupling to electronic fluctuations in localized levels, modeled as two additional quantum dots. The resulting multiple-dot setup is described using a master equation approach. We observe an “exotic” power generation, which remains finite even when the heat absorbed from the thermal reservoirs is zero (in other words the heat coming from the hot reservoir all escapes into the cold environment). This effect can be understood in terms of a non-local effect in which the heat flow from heat source to the cold environment generates power via a mechanism which we refer to as Coulomb heat drag. It relies on the fact that there is no relaxation in the quantum dot system, so electrons within it have a non-thermal energy distribution. More poetically, one can say that we find a spatial separation of the first-law of thermodynamics (heat to work conversion) from the second-law of thermodynamics (generation of entropy). We present circumstances in which this non-thermal system can generate more power than any conventional macroscopic thermocouple (with local thermalization), even when the latter works with Carnot efficiency.     

Thermodynamics of a Peyrard–Bishop One-Dimensional Lattice with On-site “Hump” Potential

This paper presents a thermodynamic study of DNA through a Peyrard–Bishop one-dimensional lattice with an on-site “hump” potential. The transfer integral operator method was used to obtain the thermodynamic properties of the system and the solution of the Schrödinger-type equation that emerges from this formalism was determined by the variational method. With the parameters of the potential, commonly used in literature, the value obtained for the denaturation temperature was extremely high. This work suggests different parameters to describe the thermodynamics of DNA macromolecule.     

The Second Law of Thermodynamics in a Quantum Heat Engine Model

The second law of thermodynamics has been proven by many facts in classical world. Is there any new property of it in quantum world? In this paper, we calculate the change of entropy in T.D. Kieu's model for quantum heat engine (QHE) and prove the broad validity of the second law of thermodynamics. It is shown that the entropy of the quantum heat engine neither decreases in a whole cycle, nor decreases in either stage of the cycle. The second law of thermodynamics still holds in this QHE model. Moreover, although the modified quantum heat engine is capable of extracting more work, its efficiency does not improve at all. It is neither beyond the efficiency of T.D. Kieu's initial model, nor greater than the reversible Carnot efficiency.     

A generalized Karnahan-Starling approach for molecular systems with a positive definite potential of interaction between particles

A new method for obtaining the well-known Karnahan-Starling equation for systems of hard spheres and its generalization for the case of any number of precisely known virial coefficients is proposed. The efficiency of the method for the construction of the statistical thermodynamics of a system of soft spheres, where an analytical expression for free energy and equations of state that agree well with the data of the computer experiment are found, is shown. The considered approach is generalized for systems with a positive definite potential of interaction between particles.     

基于变换热力学的三维任意形状热斗篷设计

在变换热力学的基础上,通过坐标变换的方法,推导出三维任意形状热斗篷导热系数的通解表达式,并进行了全波仿真验证.结果表明:热流均能绕过保护区域流出,保护区域的温度保持不变,而且热斗篷外的温度场并没有破坏,具有很好的热保护和热隐身的效果.这一方法把变换热力学从二维拓展到三维,具有普遍的适用性.同时,这种技术为热流流动路径和目标温度场的控制奠定了理论基础,在微芯片、电动机的保护以及目标热隐身上有潜在应用.     

The diffusion in the quantum Smoluchowski equation

A novel quantum Smoluchowski dynamics in an external, nonlinear potential has been derived recently. In its original form, this overdamped quantum dynamics is not compatible with the second law of thermodynamics if applied to periodic, but asymmetric ratchet potentials. An improved version of the quantum Smoluchowski equation with a modified diffusion function has been put forward in L. Machura et al. (Phys. Rev. E 70 (2004) 031107) and applied to study quantum Brownian motors in overdamped, arbitrarily shaped ratchet potentials. With this work we prove that the proposed diffusion function, which is assumed to depend (in the limit of strong friction) on the second-order derivative of the potential, is uniquely determined from the validity of the second law of thermodynamics in thermal, undriven equilibrium. Put differently, no approximation-induced quantum Maxwell demon is operating in thermal equilibrium. Furthermore, the leading quantum corrections correctly render the dissipative quantum equilibrium state, which distinctly differs from the corresponding Gibbs state that characterizes the weak (vanishing) coupling limit.     

Deriving analytical expressions for the state dependencies of the effective pair potential parameters using VIM theory

In this work, based on the variational inequality minimizing (VIM) theory of statistical thermodynamics and using the (6,12) Lennard-Jones potential function as an effective pair potential (EPP), analytical expressions for the temperature and density dependencies of the EPP parameters have been obtained. The resulting equation of state can predict thermodynamic properties such as internal energy and Helmholtz free energy for simple dense fluids such as Ar, CO, N₂, and CH₄ with differences less than 5%.     

Quantum corrections to the entropy in a driven quantum Brownian motion model

The quantum Brownian motion model is a typical model in the study of nonequilibrium quantum thermodynamics. Entropy is one of the most fundamental physical concepts in thermodynamics.In this work, by solving the quantum Langevin equation, we study the von Neumann entropy of a particle undergoing quantum Brownian motion. We obtain the analytical expression of the time evolution of the Wigner function in terms of the initial Wigner function. The result is applied to the thermodynamic equilibrium initial state, which reproduces its classical counterpart in the high temperature limit. Based on these results, for those initial states having well-defined classical counterparts, we obtain the explicit expression of the quantum corrections to the entropy in the weak coupling limit. Moreover, we find that for the thermodynamic equilibrium initial state, all terms odd in h are exactly zero. Our results bring important insights to the understanding of entropy in open quantum systems.     

Mass transport theory for the Toda lattices, dispersive and dissipative

To establish mass transport theory on nonlinear lattices, we formulate the Korteweg–deVries (KdV) equation and the Burgers equation using the flow variable representation so as to facilitate comparison with the Boltzmann equation and with the Cahn–Hilliard equation in classical statistical mechanics. We also study Toda lattice microdynamics using the Flaschka representation, and compare with the Liouville equation. Like the linear diffusion equation, the Boltzmann equation and the Liouville equation are to be solved for a distribution function, which is intrinsically probabilistic. Transport theory in linear systems is governed by the isotropic motions of the kinetic equations. In contrast, the KdV perturbation equation derived from the Toda lattice microdynamics expresses hydrodynamic mass transport. The KdV equation in hydrodynamics and the Burgers equation in thermodynamics do not involve a probability distribution function. The nonlinear lattices do not retain isotropy of the mass transport equations. In consequence, it is proposed that in the presence of hydrodynamic flows to the left, KdV wave propagation proceeds to the right. This basic property of the KdV system is extended to thermodynamics in the Burgers system. These features arise because linear systems are driven towards an equilibrium by molecular collisions, whereas the inhomogeneities of the nonlinear lattices are generated by the potential energy of interaction. Diffusion as expressed by the Burgers equation is governed not only by a chemical potential, but also by the Toda lattice potential energy.     

The Fundamental Equations of Change in Statistical Ensembles and Biological Populations

A recent article in Nature Physics unified key results from thermodynamics, statistics, and information theory. The unification arose from a general equation for the rate of change in the information content of a system. The general equation describes the change in the moments of an observable quantity over a probability distribution. One term in the equation describes the change in the probability distribution. The other term describes the change in the observable values for a given state. We show the equivalence of this general equation for moment dynamics with the widely known Price equation from evolutionary theory, named after George Price. We introduce the Price equation from its biological roots, review a mathematically abstract form of the equation, and discuss the potential for this equation to unify diverse mathematical theories from different disciplines. The new work in Nature Physics and many applications in biology show that this equation also provides the basis for deriving many novel theoretical results within each discipline.     

Nonlinear waves in the nonequilibrium systems of the oscillatory type. Part II

The paper is the continuation of the preceding one (Part I). In the part II we consider the inhomogeneous quasistationary wave patterns which result from collisions of the travelling waves with close wave-vectors, and which may be regarded as narrow stationary spectral packages consisting of the quasimonochromatic travelling waves. Then we consider the long-wave oscillatory system. It is well known that in the absence of dispersion this system possesses the potential which makes it possible to compare the absolute stability of different quasistationary states. We make an attempt to construct an analogous quantity for the dispersive system. We argue that this quantity should be of the type of the potential production (an analogue of the entropy production in the nonequilibrium thermodynamics) rather than a generalization of the potential itself. Though we have no rigorous proof that our quantity indeed determines the absolute stability, we demonstrate that this hypothesis is verisimilar.     

过阻尼布朗棘轮的斯托克斯效率研究

根据随机能量理论解析得到阻尼环境中布朗粒子的概率流和斯托克斯效率,并进一步研究布朗粒子的输运性能.详细讨论了空间的不对称性、外偏置力及外势结构等对棘轮定向输运的影响.研究发现,合适的外偏置力能使棘轮的定向输运达到最强.通过调节外势的不对称性可使棘轮中粒子的运动反向,当选择合适的空间不对称性时布朗粒子的反向输运可获得最强.此外,一定条件下合适的外势高度也能增强棘轮输运,且能使粒子克服黏滞阻力的斯托克斯效率达到最大.所得结论能够启发实验上设计合适的外势及外偏置来优化布朗棘轮的定向输运性能,并为生物纳米器件的研制提供一定的理论参考.     

Carnot efficiency: Why?

In 1824, Carnot proposed a cycle operating on reversibility principles. He proved that there exists an upper limit of the efficiency of this cycle and this limit is also the upper limit for any real process. The irreversibility related to the finite-time and the finite-size constraints are fundamental for the optimization of any real thermodynamic system. It has been pointed out how fundamental is the interaction between any open system and its surroundings. The meaning of the Carnot efficiency is that even in the ideal condition, when there is no dissipation, there exists something that does not allow the system to convert all the energies absorbed in work. The aim of this paper is to show why this happens, starting from a variational approach of thermodynamics.     

The Asymptotic Behavior of the Ergodic Measure of a Glauber + Kawasaki model

We consider an interacting particle system given by the Glauber + Kawasaki dynamics. It is known that this process has a reaction diffusion equation as hydrodynamic limit. The ergodicity of this process in the presence of a metastable state (double well potential) was recently proved by S. Brassesco et al. In this Letter we prove that, in the limit, as ε → 0, the expected value of each spin converges to the global minimizer of the potential. We also prove decay of correlations of the ergodic measure.AMS Subject Classification (2000). 60K35 (82C22, 82C31)This work was partially supported by CNPq     

A thought construction of working perpetuum mobile of the second kind

The previously published model of the isothermal Maxwell demon as one of models of open quantum systems endowed with the faculty of selforganization is reconstructed here. It describes an open quantum system interacting with a single thermodynamic bath but otherwise not aided from outside. Its activity is given by the standard linear Liouville equation for the system and bath. Owing to its selforganization property, the model then yields cyclic conversion of heat from the bath into mechanical work without compensation. Hence, it provides an explicit thought construction of perpetuum mobile of the second kind, contradicting thus the Thomson formulation of the second law of thermodynamics. No approximation is involved as a special scaling procedure is used which makes the employed kinetic equations exact.     

对气象常用坐标系中位涡形式的探讨

气象常用垂直坐标系中的位涡方程及位涡形式是位涡理论及位涡诊断技术的基础.本文依据坐标转换的观点,分别用两种不同的方法推导出等压坐标和等熵坐标中的位涡方程及相应的位涡表达式.一是从三维矢量运动方程出发,由三维涡度方程、连续方程和热力学方程推导位涡方程;二是直接从等压坐标和等熵坐标中的标量运动方程组出发推导位涡方程.结果表明,用两种方法所得到的等压坐标中的位涡方程和位涡表达式形式有所不同,而等熵坐标中用两种方法所得到的位涡方程和位涡形式相同.对垂直坐标系的物理本质分析表明,采用第一种方法时尽管矢量运动方程中的 关键词： 位涡 坐标转换 等压坐标 等熵坐标     

Macroscopic Form of the First Law of Thermodynamics for an Adibatically Evolving <Emphasis Type="Italic">Non-singular</Emphasis> Self-gravitating Fluid

We emphasize that the pressure related work appearing in a general relativistic first law of thermodynamics should involve proper volume element rather than coordinate volume element. This point is highlighted by considering both local energy momentum conservation equation as well as particle number conservation equation. It is also emphasized that we are considering here a non-singular fluid governed by purely classical general relativity. Therefore, we are not considering here any semi-classical or quantum gravity which apparently suggests thermodynamical properties even for a (singular) black hole. Having made such a clarification, we formulate a global first law of thermodynamics for an adiabatically evolving spherical perfect fluid. It may be verified that such a global first law of thermodynamics, for a non-singular fluid, has not been formulated earlier.