Journal article : Letter
Rapid optimal work extraction from a quantum-dot information engine
- Abstract:
- The conversion of thermal energy into work is usually more efficient in the slow-driving regime, where the power output is vanishingly small. Efficient work extraction for fast-driving protocols remains an outstanding challenge at the nanoscale, where fluctuations play a significant role. In this Letter, we use a quantum-dot Szilard engine to extract work from thermal fluctuations with maximum efficiency over two decades of driving speed. We design and implement a family of optimized protocols ranging from the slow- to the fast-driving regime, and we measure the engine's efficiency as well as the mean and variance of its power output in each case. These optimized protocols exhibit significant improvements in power and efficiency compared to the naive approach. Our results also show that, when optimizing for efficiency, boosting the power output of a Szilard engine inevitably comes at the cost of increased power fluctuations.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Supplementary materials, pdf, 807.4KB, Terms of use)
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 524.0KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1103/q3dx-kyqj
Authors
+ UK Research and Innovation
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/001aqnf71
- Grant:
- 101080167
- Programme:
- Quantum Flagship project ASPECTS
+ Royal Society
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/03wnrjx87
- Grant:
- URF-R1-191150
+ European Research Council
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/0472cxd90
- Grant:
- 948932
+ Swiss National Science Foundation
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/00yjd3n13
- Grant:
- P500PT 225461
+ Agencia Estatal de Investigación
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/003x0zc53
- Grant:
- RYC2022-036958-I
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society
- Journal:
- Physical Review Research More from this journal
- Volume:
- 7
- Issue:
- 3
- Article number:
- l032017
- Publication date:
- 2025-07-15
- Acceptance date:
- 2025-06-16
- DOI:
- EISSN:
-
2643-1564
- Language:
-
English
- Subtype:
-
Letter
- Pubs id:
-
2253610
- Local pid:
-
pubs:2253610
- Deposit date:
-
2025-08-01
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Aggarwal et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2025
- Rights statement:
- © The Author(s) 2025. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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