We use fast periodic control to realize finite-time Otto cycles exhibiting quantum advantage. Such periodic modulation of the working medium-bath interaction Hamiltonian during the thermalization strokes can give rise to non-Markovian anti-Zeno dynamics and corresponding reduction in the thermalization times. Faster thermalization can in turn significantly enhance the power output in engines or, equivalently, the rate of refrigeration in refrigerators. This improvement in performance of dynamically controlled Otto thermal machines arises due to the time-energy uncertainty relation of quantum mechanics.

We consider measurement based single temperature quantum heat engine without feedback control, introduced recently by Yi, Talkner and Kim [Phys. Rev. E 96, 022108 (2017)]. Taking the working medium of the engine to be a one-dimensional Heisenberg model of two spins, we calculate the efficiency of the engine undergoing a cyclic process. Starting with two spin-1/2 particles, we investigate the scenario of higher spins also. We show that, for this model of coupled working medium, efficiency can be higher than that of an uncoupled one. However, the relationship between the coupling constant and the efficiency of the engine is rather involved. We find that in the higher spin scenario efficiency can sometimes be negative (this means work has to be done to run the engine cycle) for certain range of coupling constants, in contrast to the aforesaid work of Yi, Talkner and Kim, where they showed that the extracted work is always positive in the absence of coupling. We provide arguments for this negative efficiency in higher spin scenarios. Interestingly, this happens only in the asymmetric scenarios, where the two spins are different. Given these facts, for judiciously chosen conditions, an engine with coupled working medium gives advantage for the efficiency over the uncoupled one.

The quantum speed limit for open quantum systems in the non-Markovian regime is analyzed. We provide a lower bound for the time required to transform an initial state to a final state in terms of thermodynamic quantities such as the energy fluctuation, entropy production rate, and dynamical activity. Such bound was already analyzed for Markovian evolution satisfying detailed balance condition. Here we generalize this approach to deal with arbitrary evolution governed by a time-local generator. Our analysis is illustrated by three paradigmatic examples of qubit evolution: amplitude damping, pure dephasing, and the eternally non-Markovian evolution.

We discuss a model of a closed quantum evolution of two qubits where the joint Hamiltonian is so chosen such that one of the qubits acts as a bath and thermalizes the other qubit which is acting as the system. The corresponding exact master equation for the system is derived. Interestingly, for a specific choice of parameters the master equation takes the Gorini-Kossakowski-Lindblad-Sudarshan (GKLS) form, with constant coefficients representing pumping and damping of a single qubit system. Based on this model we construct an Otto cycle connected to a single qubit bath and study its thermodynamic properties. Our analysis goes beyond the conventional weak coupling scenario and illustrates the effects of finite baths, including non-Markovianity. We find closed form expressions for efficiency (coefficient of performance), power (cooling power) for the heat engine regime (refrigerator regime), and for different modifications of the joint Hamiltonian.

In this paper, we analyze the classical capacity of the generalized Pauli channels generated via memory kernel master equations. For suitable engineering of the kernel parameters, evolution with non-local noise effects can produce dynamical maps with a higher capacity than a purely Markovian evolution. We provide instructive examples for qubit and qutrit evolution. Interestingly, similar behavior is not observed when analyzing time-local master equations.