6533b870fe1ef96bd12cfb72

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Driven Brownian particle as a paradigm for a nonequilibrium heat bath: Effective temperature and cyclic work extraction

Michael OechsleUdo SeifertThomas SpeckR. Wulfert

subject

Canonical ensemblePhysicsWork (thermodynamics)Thermal reservoirStatistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)Non-equilibrium thermodynamicsFOS: Physical sciencesMechanics01 natural sciencesThermostat010305 fluids & plasmaslaw.inventionClassical mechanicslaw0103 physical sciences010306 general physicsHarmonic oscillatorBrownian motionCondensed Matter - Statistical MechanicsHeat engine

description

We apply the concept of a frequency-dependent effective temperature based on the fluctuation-dissipation ratio to a driven Brownian particle in a nonequilibrium steady state. Using this system as a thermostat for a weakly coupled harmonic oscillator, the oscillator thermalizes according to a canonical distribution at the respective effective temperature across the entire frequency spectrum. By turning the oscillator from a passive "thermometer" into a heat engine, we realize the cyclic extraction of work from a single thermal reservoir, which is feasible only due to its nonequilibrium nature.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2017-02-10
10.1103/physreve.95.050103http://arxiv.org/abs/1705.00877