| Grant number: | 19/27471-0 |
| Support type: | Regular Research Grants |
| Duration: | October 01, 2020 - September 30, 2022 |
| Field of knowledge: | Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Atomic and Molecular Physics |
| Cooperation agreement: | CONFAP - National Council of State Research Support Foundations |
| Principal researcher: | Sérgio Ricardo Muniz |
| Grantee: | Sérgio Ricardo Muniz |
| Home Institution: | Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil |
| Assoc. researchers: | Diogo de Oliveira Soares Pinto ; Frederico Borges de Brito ; René Alfonso Nome Silva ; Renné Luiz Câmara Medeiros de Araújo ; Sebastian Deffner |
Abstract
The benefits arising from the development of thermodynamics are immeasurable. Thermal machines played a central role in the industrial revolution with huge impact on society. Despite this success, thermodynamics has always faced conceptual dilemmas. Advances in the fields of nanotechnology and quantum technologies have once again led us to conceptual issues related to thermodynamics, which are very relevant today.Understanding the thermodynamic processes of small systems, termed nanothermodynamics here, is very important for a variety of systems and extremely relevant from a fundamental and technological point of view. For example, given the significant advances in quantum technologies, it is interesting to ask how quantum advantages could be used on the macroscopic scale governed by classical physics. If successful, this pursuit could lead to new forms of energy production and conversion, with more efficient and sustainable processes, one of today's major challenges. Addressing such questions is one of the main objectives of this proposal, which aims to develop new experimental techniques and new physical platforms, exploring the classical-quantum boundary. (AU)