Gambling Carnot Engine

• DOI: 10.1103/w8cx-xx1z
• ArXiv number: 2409.17212

We propose a theoretical model for a colloidal heat engine driven by a feedback protocol that is able to fully convert the net heat absorbed by the hot bath into extracted work. The feedback protocol, inspired by gambling strategies, executes a sudden quench at zero work cost when the particle position satisfies a specific first-passage condition. As a result, the engine enhances both power and efficiency with respect to a standard Carnot cycle, surpassing Carnot’s efficiency at maximum power. Using first-passage and martingale theory, we derive analytical expressions for the power and efficiency far beyond the quasistatic limit and provide scaling arguments for their dependency with the cycle duration. Numerical simulations are in perfect agreement with our theoretical findings, and illustrate the impact of the data acquisition rate on the engine’s performance.

• Full paper

Related research projects

CoQuSy

Complex Quantum Systems: machine learning, thermodynamics, and emergent phenomena

P.I.: Gian Luca Giorgi, Gonzalo Manzano, Roberta Zambrini

CoQuSy is a coordinated project and joins all the researchers at IFISC (belonging either to CSIC or UIB) working in the common line of complex quantum systems. The coordination is motivated by …

QTD-InFlexity

Quantum thermodynamics: information, fluctuations and complexity

P.I.: Gonzalo Manzano

In the last two decades, thermodynamics has been extended to describe small systems, where the action of environmental noise “blurs” traditional thermodynamic constraints and information plays a central role. While the first …

Related News

Gambling with Heat: A new engine that outperforms Carnot

Sept. 30, 2025

The study, published in Physical Review Letters, introduces the “Gambling Carnot Engine”, a feedback-controlled heat engine that can surpass Carnot’s efficiency and achieve full conversion of heat into work under realistic conditions.The research is the result of a collaboration between …

Apostant amb la calor: Un nou motor que supera a Carnot

Sept. 30, 2025

L'estudi, publicat a Physical Review Letters, presenta el «Motor de Carnot Ludificat», un motor tèrmic controlat per realimentació que pot superar l'eficiència de Carnot i aconseguir la conversió total de calor en treball en condicions realistes.La recerca és fruit de …

Apostando con el calor: Un nuevo motor que supera a Carnot

Sept. 30, 2025

El estudio, publicado en Physical Review Letters, presenta el «Motor de Carnot gamificado», un motor térmico controlado por realimentación que puede superar la eficiencia de Carnot y lograr la conversión total de calor en trabajo en condiciones realistas.La investigación es …