Huang Rui, Man Zhong-Xiao, Li Lu, Xia Yun-Jie
School of Physics and Physical Engineering, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, 273165, China.
Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 1;15(1):11151. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-95330-1.
In this work, we investigate effects of the sequence of system-environment interactions on the functionality and performance of quantum thermal machines (QTMs). The working substance of our setup consists of two subsystems, each independently coupled to its local thermal reservoir and further interconnected with a common reservoir in a cascaded manner. We demonstrate the impact of the sequential interactions between the subsystems and the common reservoir by exchanging the temperatures of the two local reservoirs. Our findings reveal that, when the two subsystems are in resonance, such an exchange alters the efficiency of QTMs without changing their functional types. Conversely, when the two subsystems are detuned, this exchange not only changes the efficiency but also the types of QTMs. Our results indicate that the manners of system-reservoir interactions offer significant potential for designing QTMs with tailored functionalities and enhanced performance.
在这项工作中，我们研究了系统 - 环境相互作用的顺序对量子热机（QTM）功能和性能的影响。我们装置的工作物质由两个子系统组成，每个子系统独立地与其本地热库耦合，并以级联方式与一个公共热库进一步互连。我们通过交换两个本地热库的温度来展示子系统与公共热库之间顺序相互作用的影响。我们的研究结果表明，当两个子系统处于共振时，这种交换会改变量子热机的效率，而不改变其功能类型。相反，当两个子系统失谐时，这种交换不仅会改变效率，还会改变量子热机的类型。我们的结果表明，系统 - 热库相互作用的方式为设计具有定制功能和增强性能的量子热机提供了巨大潜力。
