2023/08/04 by Mamede, Iago N., Proesmans, Karel, Fiore, Carlos E.
#FOS: Physical sciences #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Other Condensed Matter (cond-mat.other) #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2308.02255
We will study a class of system composed of interacting unicyclic machines placed in contact with a hot and cold thermal baths subjected to a non-conservative driving worksource. Despite their simplicity, these models showcase an intricate array of phenomena, including pump and heat engine regimes as well as a discontinuous phase transition. We will look at three distinctive topologies: a minimal and beyond minimal (homogeneous and heterogeneous interaction structures). The former case is represented by stark different networks ("all-to-all" interactions and only a central interacting to its neighbors) and present exact solutions, whereas homogeneous and heterogeneous structures have been analyzed by numerical simulations. We find that the topology plays a major role on the thermodynamic performance for smaller values of individual energies, in part due to the presence of first-order phase-transitions.Contrariwise, the topology becomes less important as individual energies increases and results are well-described by a system with all-to-all interactions.