Power, efficiency, and fluctuations in steady-state heat engines
Power, efficiency, and fluctuations in steady-state heat engines
We consider the quality factor Q, which quantifies the trade-off between power, efficiency, and fluctuations in steady-state heat engines modeled by dynamical systems. We show that the nonlinear scattering theory, in both classical and quantum mechanics, sets the bound Q=3/8 when approaching the Carnot efficiency. On the other hand, interacting, …