2013/10/04 by Julian Stark, Kay Brandner, Keiji Saito +1 · 6 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Electrode #Materials science #Nernst effect #Nernst equation #Physics #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum mechanics #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.112.140601
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 140601 (2014) · 5+6 pages, 2 figures
arxiv created 2013/10/04 · openalex publication_date 2014/04/07 · arxiv updated 2015/01/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We introduce a simple model for an engine based on the Nernst effect. In the presence of a magnetic field, a vertical heat current can drive a horizontal particle current against a chemical potential. For a microscopic model invoking classical particle trajectories subject to the Lorentz force, we prove a universal bound 3-2√2≃0.172 for the ratio between the maximum efficiency and the Carnot efficiency. This bound, as the slightly lower one 1/6 for efficiency at maximum power, can indeed be saturated for a large magnetic field and small fugacity.