Abstract:
Abstract Thermodynamics is an old subject. The research objects in conventional thermodynamics are macroscopic systems with huge number of particles. In recent 30 years, thermodynamics of small systems is a frontier topic in physics. Here we introduce nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and stochastic thermodynamics of small systems. As a case study, we construct a Canot-like cycle of a stochastic heat engine with a single particle controlled by a time-dependent harmonic potential. We find that the efficiency at maximum power is 1 - , where
Tc and
Th are the temperatures of cold bath and hot bath, respectively.