Superadiabatic quantum friction suppression in finite-time thermodynamics*

Optimal performance of thermal machines is reached by suppressing friction. Friction in quantum thermodynamics results from fast driving schemes that generate nonadiabatic excitations. The far-from-equilibrium dynamics of quantum devices can be tailored by shortcuts to adiabaticity to suppress quantum friction. We experimentally demonstrate friction-free superadiabatic strokes with a trapped unitary Fermi gas as a working substance and establish the equivalence between the superadiabatic mean work and its adiabatic value.

S. Deng et al., Shortcuts to adiabaticity in the strongly-coupled regime: nonadiabatic control of a unitary Fermi gas, Phys. Rev. A 97, 013628 (2018)
S. Deng et al., Superadiabatic quantum friction suppression in finite-time thermodynamics, Science Advances 4, eaar5909 (2018)
P. Diao et al., Shortcuts to adiabaticity in Fermi gases, New J. Phys. 20, 105004 (2018)