Boosting thermodynamic performance by bending space-time

Date

2023-01-04

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Ferketic, Emily E., and Sebastian Deffner. “Boosting Thermodynamic Performance by Bending Space-Time.” Europhysics Letters 141, no. 1 (January 2023): 19001. https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/acad9c.

Rights

This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Subjects

Abstract

Black holes are arguably the most extreme regions of the universe. Yet, they are also utterly inaccessible to experimentation, and even just indirect observation poses significant technical challenges. The phenomenological approach of thermodynamics is uniquely suited to explore at least some of the physical properties of such scenarios, and this has motivated the study of so-called holographic engines. We show that the efficiency of an endoreversible Brayton cycle is given by the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency if the engine is fueled by a 2-dimensional ideal gas; and that the efficiency is higher, if the working medium is a (2+1)-dimensional BTZ black hole. These findings may be relevant not only in the quest to unlock the mysteries of black holes, but also for potential technological applications of graphene.