Work producing reservoirs: Stochastic thermodynamics with generalized Gibbs ensembles
We develop a consistent stochastic thermodynamics for environments composed of thermodynamic reservoirs in an external conservative force field, that is, environments described by the generalized or Gibbs canonical ensemble. We demonstrate that small systems weakly coupled to such reservoirs exchang...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Physical Society
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110395 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9139-0811 |
| Summary: | We develop a consistent stochastic thermodynamics for environments composed of thermodynamic reservoirs in an external conservative force field, that is, environments described by the generalized or Gibbs canonical ensemble. We demonstrate that small systems weakly coupled to such reservoirs exchange both heat and work by verifying a local detailed balance relation for the induced stochastic dynamics. Based on this analysis, we help to rationalize the observation that nonthermal reservoirs can increase the efficiency of thermodynamic heat engines. |
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