Harnessing energy extracted from heat engines to charge quantum batteries

Abstract

We explore the performance of three- and two-stroke heat engines with a qutrit working substance in charging two-level quantum batteries. We first classify the heat engines into two groups depending on their working methods. The first type of heat engine, the sequential engine, evolves through three distinct strokes, viz., heat, work, and cold strokes. In the second kind of engine, a simultaneous engine, all the three events are made to occur simultaneously in one stroke, followed by an additional stroke to thermalize the working substance, i.e., the qutrit with a cold bath. We further categorize these two types of engines into two classes depending on the type of interaction between the working substance and the baths or the battery, viz., out-and-out engines, where the system bath interactions can invoke population transitions between any two energy levels of the qutrit, and fragmented engines, where only selective transition is materialized. Considering these four types of heat engines, we analyze the work done by the working substance, the percentage of charge accumulated by the quantum battery, and the efficiency of the engine. By drawing a comparison between the charging schemes, we find that the sequential out-and-out heat engines are most advantageous, providing unit efficiency and transferring the most energy to the quantum battery, in the optimal case. The ranking of the benefits obtained from the other three engines depends on the quantity of interest.