The Problem of Engines in Statistical Physics
Engines are open systems that can generate work cyclically at the expense of an external disequilibrium. They are ubiquitous in nature and technology, but the course of mathematical physics over the last 300 years has tended to make their dynamics in time a theoretical blind spot. This has hampered...
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| Format: | Article |
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Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2022
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/136693.2 |
| _version_ | 1811087838420140032 |
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| author | Alicki, Robert Gelbwaser-Klimovsky, David Jenkins, Alejandro |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Alicki, Robert Gelbwaser-Klimovsky, David Jenkins, Alejandro |
| author_sort | Alicki, Robert |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Engines are open systems that can generate work cyclically at the expense of an external disequilibrium. They are ubiquitous in nature and technology, but the course of mathematical physics over the last 300 years has tended to make their dynamics in time a theoretical blind spot. This has hampered the usefulness of statistical mechanics applied to active systems, including living matter. We argue that recent advances in the theory of open quantum systems, coupled with renewed interest in understanding how active forces result from positive feedback between different macroscopic degrees of freedom in the presence of dissipation, point to a more realistic description of autonomous engines. We propose a general conceptualization of an engine that helps clarify the distinction between its heat and work outputs. Based on this, we show how the external loading force and the thermal noise may be incorporated into the relevant equations of motion. This modifies the usual Fokker–Planck and Langevin equations, offering a thermodynamically complete formulation of the irreversible dynamics of simple oscillating and rotating engines. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:52:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/136693.2 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:52:46Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/136693.22024-02-26T21:54:11Z The Problem of Engines in Statistical Physics Alicki, Robert Gelbwaser-Klimovsky, David Jenkins, Alejandro Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Engines are open systems that can generate work cyclically at the expense of an external disequilibrium. They are ubiquitous in nature and technology, but the course of mathematical physics over the last 300 years has tended to make their dynamics in time a theoretical blind spot. This has hampered the usefulness of statistical mechanics applied to active systems, including living matter. We argue that recent advances in the theory of open quantum systems, coupled with renewed interest in understanding how active forces result from positive feedback between different macroscopic degrees of freedom in the presence of dissipation, point to a more realistic description of autonomous engines. We propose a general conceptualization of an engine that helps clarify the distinction between its heat and work outputs. Based on this, we show how the external loading force and the thermal noise may be incorporated into the relevant equations of motion. This modifies the usual Fokker–Planck and Langevin equations, offering a thermodynamically complete formulation of the irreversible dynamics of simple oscillating and rotating engines. 2022-01-21T16:31:30Z 2021-10-28T13:36:20Z 2022-01-21T16:31:30Z 2021-08 2021-07 2021-08-26T13:29:12Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1099-4300 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/136693.2 Entropy 23 (8): 1095 (2021) http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/e23081095 Entropy Creative Commons Attribution https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/octet-stream Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
| spellingShingle | Alicki, Robert Gelbwaser-Klimovsky, David Jenkins, Alejandro The Problem of Engines in Statistical Physics |
| title | The Problem of Engines in Statistical Physics |
| title_full | The Problem of Engines in Statistical Physics |
| title_fullStr | The Problem of Engines in Statistical Physics |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Problem of Engines in Statistical Physics |
| title_short | The Problem of Engines in Statistical Physics |
| title_sort | problem of engines in statistical physics |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/136693.2 |
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