Mercoledì 13 maggio 2015 - Ore 15:30 - Giuliano Benenti - Fundamental Aspects of Steady State Heat to Work Conversion - Seminario INFN

Luogo: Aula Feynmann

Relatore: Prof. Giuliano Benenti - Center for Nonlinear and Complex systems Universita' degli Studi dell'Insubria - Como

E-mail organizzatore: raffaella.burioni@fis.unipr.it

Abstract:

The understanding of energy conversion in complex systems is a

fundamental problem, also of practical

interest in connection with the challenging task of developing

high-performance thermoelectric heat engines and refrigerators. A rather

abstract perspective of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and

dynamical system’s theory is taken to view at this very practical

problem. Recently discovered general

mechanisms of optimizing the figure of merit of thermoelectric

efficiency are discussed, also in

connection to momentum-conserving interacting systems [1-2], to the

breaking of time-reversal

symmetry by an applied magnetic field [3-7], and to multiterminal

steady-state quantum thermal

machines [8-9].

References:

[1] G. Benenti, G. Casati and W. Jiao, Conservation laws and

thermodynamic efficiencies, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 070604 (2013).

[2] G. Benenti, G. Casati and C. Mejia-Monasterio, Thermoelectric

efficiency in momentum-conserving systems, New J. Phys. 16, 015014 (2014).

[3] G. Benenti, K. Saito and G. Casati, Thermodynamic bounds on

efficiency for systems with broken time-reversal symmetry, Phys. Rev.

Lett. 106, 230602 (2011).

[4] K. Saito, G. Benenti, G. Casati and T. Prosen, Thermopower with

broken time-reversal symmetry, Phys. Rev. B 84, 201306(R) (2011).

[5] M. Horvat, T. Prosen, G. Benenti and G. Casati, Railway switch

transport model, Phys. Rev. E 86, 052102 (2012).

[6] V. Balachandran, G. Benenti and G. Casati, Efficiency of

three-terminal thermoelectric transport under broken time-reversal

symmetry, Phys. Rev. B 87, 165419 (2013).

7] R. Bosisio, S. Valentini, F. Mazza, G. Benenti, R. Fazio, V.

Giovannetti and F. Taddei, A magnetic thermal switch for heat management

at the nanoscale, preprint  arXiv:1504.01486

[8] F. Mazza, R. Bosisio, G. Benenti, V. Giovannetti, R. Fazio and F.

Taddei, Thermoelectric efficiency of three-terminal quantum thermal

machines, New J. Phys. 16, 085001 (2014).

[9] F. Mazza, S. Valentini, R. Bosisio, G. Benenti, V. Giovannetti, R.

Fazio and F. Taddei, Separation of heat and charge currents for boosted

thermoelectric conversion, preprint  arXiv:1503.01601