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