An out-of-equilibrium non-Markovian quantum heat engine

Abstract

We study the performance of a quantum Otto cycle using a harmonic work medium and undergoing collisional dynamics with finite-size reservoirs. We span the dynamical regimes of the work strokes from strongly non-adiabatic to quasi-static conditions, and address the effects that non-Markovianity of the open-system dynamics of the work medium can have on the efficiency of the thermal machine. While such efficiency never surpasses the classical upper bound valid for finite-time stochastic engines, the behaviour of the engine shows clear-cut effects induced by both the finiteness of the evolution time, and the memory-bearing character of the system-environment evolution.