This review reports several key advances on the theoretical investigations of efficiency at maximum power of heat engines in the past five years. The analytical results of efficiency at maximum power for the Curzon-Ah...This review reports several key advances on the theoretical investigations of efficiency at maximum power of heat engines in the past five years. The analytical results of efficiency at maximum power for the Curzon-Ahlborn heat engine, the stochastic heat engine constructed from a Brownian particle, and Feynman＇s ratchet as a heat engine are presented. It is found that： the efficiency at maximum power exhibits universal behavior at small relative temperature differences; the lower and the upper bounds might exist under quite general conditions; and the problem of efficiency at maximum power comes down to seeking for the minimum irreversible entropy production in each finite-time isothermal process for a given time.展开更多
The crucial condition in the derivation of the Jarzynski equality （JE） from the fluctuation theorem is that the time integral of the phase space contraction factor can be exactly expressed as the entropy production ...The crucial condition in the derivation of the Jarzynski equality （JE） from the fluctuation theorem is that the time integral of the phase space contraction factor can be exactly expressed as the entropy production resulting from the heat absorbed by the system from the thermal bath. For the system violating this condition, a more general form of JE may exist. This existence is verified by three Gedanken experiments and numerical simulations, and may be confirmed by the real experiment in the nanoscale.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.11075015)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
文摘This review reports several key advances on the theoretical investigations of efficiency at maximum power of heat engines in the past five years. The analytical results of efficiency at maximum power for the Curzon-Ahlborn heat engine, the stochastic heat engine constructed from a Brownian particle, and Feynman＇s ratchet as a heat engine are presented. It is found that： the efficiency at maximum power exhibits universal behavior at small relative temperature differences; the lower and the upper bounds might exist under quite general conditions; and the problem of efficiency at maximum power comes down to seeking for the minimum irreversible entropy production in each finite-time isothermal process for a given time.
基金We are grateful to the useful comments from Profs. C. Jarzynski, U. Seifert, M. Bier, and Dr. Gomez-Marin.
文摘The crucial condition in the derivation of the Jarzynski equality （JE） from the fluctuation theorem is that the time integral of the phase space contraction factor can be exactly expressed as the entropy production resulting from the heat absorbed by the system from the thermal bath. For the system violating this condition, a more general form of JE may exist. This existence is verified by three Gedanken experiments and numerical simulations, and may be confirmed by the real experiment in the nanoscale.
