Quantum absorption refrigerator with trapped ions

Understand

Thermodynamics is one of the oldest and well-established branches of physics that sets boundaries to what can possibly be achieved in macroscopic systems.

• While it started as a purely classical theory, it was realized in the early days of quantum mechanics that large quantum devices, such as masers or lasers, can be treated with the thermodynamic formalism.
• Remarkable progress has been made recently in the miniaturization of heat engines all the way to the single Brownian particle as well as to a single atom.
• However, despite several theoretical proposals, the implementation of heat machines in the fully quantum regime remains a challenge.