Speaker: Marco Polini (Dipartimento di Fisica – UNIPI)
Title: “Quantum Batteries: an Introduction”
Abstract:
Batteries and supercapacitors essentially operate on the basis of extremely robust electrochemical principles that have been developed between the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries. While it is pivotal to continue research on advanced materials to optimize the performance of available energy storage devices, it seems timely and very natural to ask ourselves whether it is useful to transcend conventional electrochemistry to create an entirely new class of powerful batteries. In this talk I will introduce “Quantum Batteries” (QBs). A QB is a system composed of N identical quantum cells, where energy is stored and from which work can be extracted. In an ideal QB, fast charging occurs due to the entangling dynamics in the charging process. I will discuss two prototypes of QBs: 1) Dicke QBs [1], where arrays of N qubits are coupled to a harmonic energy source, and 2) Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev QBs [2], where the maximally-entangling charging dynamics guaranteed by the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev Hamiltonian has been conjectured to lead to quantum supremacy for the charging task. If time allows, I will discuss how entanglement, however, leads also to unwanted effects reducing, for example, the work extraction capabilities of a QB [3].
[1] D. Ferraro, M. Campisi, G. M. Andolina, V. Pellegrini, and M. Polini, High-power collective charging of a solid-state quantum battery, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 117702 (2018).
[2] D. Rossini, G. M. Andolina, D. Rosa, M. Carrega, and M. Polini, Quantum charging supremacy via Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev batteries, arXiv:1912.07234 (Phys. Rev. Lett. 2020, in press).
[3] G. M. Andolina, M. Keck, A. Mari, M. Campisi, V. Giovannetti, and M. Polini, Extractable work, the role of correlations, and asymptotic freedom in quantum batteries, Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 047702 (2019).