How Small Can Thermal Machines Be? The Smallest Possible Refrigerator

Noah Linden, Sandu Popescu, and Paul Skrzypczyk
Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 130401 – Published 21 September 2010
PDFHTMLExport Citation

Abstract

We investigate the fundamental dimensional limits to thermodynamic machines. In particular, we show that it is possible to construct self-contained refrigerators (i.e., not requiring external sources of work) consisting of only a small number of qubits and/or qutrits. We present three different models, consisting of two qubits, a qubit and a qutrit with nearest-neighbor interactions, and a single qutrit, respectively. We then investigate the fundamental limits to their performance; in particular, we show that it is possible to cool towards absolute zero.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 16 November 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.130401

© 2010 The American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Noah Linden1, Sandu Popescu2, and Paul Skrzypczyk2

  • 1Department of Mathematics, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TW, United Kingdom
  • 2H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, United Kingdom

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 105, Iss. 13 — 24 September 2010

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×