Persistence time bound for subdiffusion based on multidimensional thermodynamic uncertainty relation: Application to an analytically solvable model.

The thermodynamic uncertainty relation (TUR) is an inequality showing the tradeoff relationship between the relative fluctuation of current observables and thermodynamic costs. It is one of the most important results of stochastic thermodynamics. There are various applications for TUR, one of which is the recent finding of thermodynamic constraints on the time window in which anomalous diffusion of Brownian particles can occur, including subdiffusion and superdiffusion, which are slower and faster than normal diffusion, respectively.

Thermodynamic efficiency of atmospheric motion governed by the Lorenz system.

The Lorenz system was derived on the basis of a model of convective atmospheric motions and may serve as a paradigmatic model for considering a complex climate system. In this study we formulated the thermodynamic efficiency of convective atmospheric motions governed by the Lorenz system by treating it as a nonequilibrium thermodynamic system. Based on the fluid conservation equations under the Oberbeck-Boussinesq approximation, the work necessary to maintain atmospheric motion and heat fluxes at the boundaries were calculated.

Achieving Carnot efficiency in a finite-power Brownian Carnot cycle with arbitrary temperature difference.

Achieving the Carnot efficiency at finite power is a challenging problem in heat engines due to the trade-off relation between efficiency and power that holds for general heat engines. It is pointed out that the Carnot efficiency at finite power may be achievable in the vanishing limit of the relaxation times of a system without breaking the trade-off relation. However, any explicit model of heat engines that realizes this scenario for arbitrary temperature difference has not been proposed.

Hierarchical Onsager symmetries in adiabatically driven linear irreversible heat engines.

In existing linear response theories for adiabatically driven cyclic heat engines, Onsager symmetry is identified only phenomenologically, and a relation between global and local Onsager coefficients, defined over one cycle and at any instant of a cycle, respectively, is not derived. To address this limitation, we develop a linear response theory for the speed of adiabatically changing parameters and temperature differences in generic Gaussian heat engines obeying Fokker-Planck dynamics. We establish a hierarchical relationship between the global linear response relations, defined over one cycle of the heat engines, and the local ones, defined at any instant of the cycle.

Compatibility of Carnot efficiency with finite power in an underdamped Brownian Carnot cycle in small temperature-difference regime.

We study the possibility of achieving the Carnot efficiency in a finite-power underdamped Brownian Carnot cycle. Recently, it was reported that the Carnot efficiency is achievable in a general class of finite-power Carnot cycles in the vanishing limit of the relaxation times. Thus, it may be interesting to clarify how the efficiency and power depend on the relaxation times by using a specific model.

Quasilinear irreversible thermodynamics of a low-temperature-differential kinematic Stirling heat engine.

Low-temperature-differential (LTD) Stirling heat engines are able to operate with a small temperature difference between low-temperature heat reservoirs that exist in our daily lives, and thus they are considered to be an important sustainable energy technology. The author recently proposed a nonlinear dynamics model of an LTD kinematic Stirling heat engine to study the rotational mechanism of the engine [Y. Izumida, Europhys.

Fast-forward approach to stochastic heat engine.

The fast-forward (FF) scheme proposed by Masuda and Nakamura [Proc. R. Soc.

Transition probability generating function of a transitionless quantum parametric oscillator.

The transitionless tracking (TT) algorithm enables the exact tracking of quantum adiabatic dynamics in an arbitrary short time by adding a counterdiabatic Hamiltonian to the original adiabatic Hamiltonian. By applying Husimi's method originally developed for a quantum parametric oscillator (QPO) to the transitionless QPO achieved using the TT algorithm, we obtain the transition probability generating function with a time-dependent parameter constituted with solutions of the corresponding classical parametric oscillator (CPO). By obtaining the explicit solutions of this CPO using the phase-amplitude method, we find that the time-dependent parameter can be reduced to the frequency ratio between the Hamiltonians without and with the counterdiabatic Hamiltonian, from which we can easily characterize the result achieved by the TT algorithm.

Molecular kinetic analysis of a local equilibrium Carnot cycle.

We identify a velocity distribution function of ideal gas particles that is compatible with the local equilibrium assumption and the fundamental thermodynamic relation satisfying the endoreversibility. We find that this distribution is a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution with a spatially uniform temperature and a spatially varying local center-of-mass velocity. We construct the local equilibrium Carnot cycle of an ideal gas, based on this distribution, and show that the efficiency of the present cycle is given by the endoreversible Carnot efficiency using the molecular kinetic temperatures of the gas.

Energetics of synchronization in coupled oscillators rotating on circular trajectories.

We derive a concise and general expression of the energy dissipation rate for coupled oscillators rotating on circular trajectories by unifying the nonequilibrium aspects with the nonlinear dynamics via stochastic thermodynamics. In the framework of phase oscillator models, it is known that the even and odd parts of the coupling function express the effect on collective and relative dynamics, respectively. We reveal that the odd part always decreases the dissipation upon synchronization, while the even part yields a characteristic square-root change of the dissipation near the bifurcation point whose sign depends on the specific system parameters.

Work output and efficiency at maximum power of linear irreversible heat engines operating with a finite-sized heat source.

We formulate the work output and efficiency for linear irreversible heat engines working between a finite-sized hot heat source and an infinite-sized cold heat reservoir until the total system reaches the final thermal equilibrium state with a uniform temperature. We prove that when the heat engines operate at the maximum power under the tight-coupling condition without heat leakage the work output is just half of the exergy, which is known as the maximum available work extracted from a heat source. As a consequence, the corresponding efficiency is also half of its quasistatic counterpart.

Onsager coefficients of a finite-time Carnot cycle.

We study a finite-time Carnot cycle of a weakly interacting gas which we can regard as a nearly ideal gas in the limit of T(h)-T(c) --> 0 where T(h) and T(c) are the temperatures of the hot and cold heat reservoirs, respectively. In this limit, we can assume that the cycle is working in the linear-response regime and can calculate the Onsager coefficients of this cycle analytically using the elementary molecular kinetic theory. We reveal that these Onsager coefficients satisfy the so-called tight-coupling condition and this fact explains why the efficiency at the maximal power eta(max) of this cycle can attain the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency from the viewpoint of the linear-response theory.