Author
Listed:
- Jennifer Koch
(RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau)
- Keerthy Menon
(OIST Graduate University)
- Eloisa Cuestas
(OIST Graduate University
National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina and National University of Córdoba)
- Sian Barbosa
(RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau)
- Eric Lutz
(University of Stuttgart)
- Thomás Fogarty
(OIST Graduate University)
- Thomas Busch
(OIST Graduate University)
- Artur Widera
(RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau)
Abstract
Heat engines convert thermal energy into mechanical work both in the classical and quantum regimes1. However, quantum theory offers genuine non-classical forms of energy, different from heat, which so far have not been exploited in cyclic engines. Here we experimentally realize a quantum many-body engine fuelled by the energy difference between fermionic and bosonic ensembles of ultracold particles that follows from the Pauli exclusion principle2. We employ a harmonically trapped superfluid gas of 6Li atoms close to a magnetic Feshbach resonance3 that allows us to effectively change the quantum statistics from Bose–Einstein to Fermi–Dirac, by tuning the gas between a Bose–Einstein condensate of bosonic molecules and a unitary Fermi gas (and back) through a magnetic field4–10. The quantum nature of such a Pauli engine is revealed by contrasting it with an engine in the classical thermal regime and with a purely interaction-driven device. We obtain a work output of several 106 vibrational quanta per cycle with an efficiency of up to 25%. Our findings establish quantum statistics as a useful thermodynamic resource for work production.
Suggested Citation
Jennifer Koch & Keerthy Menon & Eloisa Cuestas & Sian Barbosa & Eric Lutz & Thomás Fogarty & Thomas Busch & Artur Widera, 2023.
"A quantum engine in the BEC–BCS crossover,"
Nature, Nature, vol. 621(7980), pages 723-727, September.
Handle:
RePEc:nat:nature:v:621:y:2023:i:7980:d:10.1038_s41586-023-06469-8
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06469-8
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