Powerful ordered collective heat engines

Abstract

We introduce a class of engines whereby units operating synchronously can be harnessed for levering its performance and also guiding the regime of operation. Our approach encompasses a minimal setup composed of $N$ interacting unities placed in contact with two thermal baths and subjected to a constant driving worksource. The interplay between synchronized unities and optimal parameter choices provide maximal power and efficiency, the former and latter being able to reach Curzon-Ahlborn $\eta_{CA}$ (including greater than $\eta_{CA}$) and Carnot $\eta_c$ bounds, respectively. The main system features are captured by treating ordered effects through a phenomenological model and a linear analysis near the equilibrium regime. The present framework paves the way for the building of promising nonequilibrium thermal machines based on ordered structures.