Thermodynamic control -- an old paradigm with new applications

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2020-08-07

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Sebastian Deffner and Marcus V. S. Bonança, Thermodynamic control -- an old paradigm with new applications, EPL (Europhysics Letters), Volume 131, Number 2, 7 August, 2020; https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/131/20001

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Subjects

Abstract

Tremendous research efforts have been invested in exploring and designing so-called shortcuts to adiabaticity. These are finite-time processes that produce the same final states that would result from infinitely slow driving. Most of these techniques rely on auxiliary fields and quantum control techniques, which makes them rather costly to implement. In this Perspective we outline an alternative paradigm for optimal control that has proven powerful in a wide variety of situations ranging from heat engines over chemical reactions to quantum dynamics -- thermodynamic control. Focusing on only a few, selected milestones we seek to provide a pedagogical entry point into this powerful and versatile framework.