2016/02/01 by Andreas Dechant, Nikolai Kiesel, Eric Lutz
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.1209/0295-5075/119/50003
6 pages, 3 figures
arxiv created 2016/02/01 · arxiv updated 2017/12/06
We investigate the performance of an underdamped stochastic heat engine for a time-dependent harmonic oscillator. We analytically determine the optimal protocol that maximizes the efficiency at fixed power. The maximum efficiency reduces to the Curzon-Ahlborn formula at maximum power and the Carnot formula at zero power. We further establish that the efficiency at maximum power is universally given by the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency in the weakly damped regime. Finally, we show that even small deviations from operation at maximum power may result in a significantly increased efficiency.