Controlling heat flows among three reservoirs asymmetrically coupled to two two-level systems

摘要

We study heat flows among three thermal reservoirs via two two-level systems (TLSs). Two reservoirs are coupled to one TLS and the third reservoir to the second TLS. The two TLSs are also coupled to each other, thus bridging the third reservoir with the two other reservoirs. We show that the magnitudes and directions of the reservoirs' heat currents can be controlled by varying the various damping rates of the two TLSs due to coupling with the corresponding reservoirs. First, it is shown that by changing the damping rate due to one reservoir, magnitudes of heat currents of the other two reservoirs can behave in completely different manners, namely, although one may be enhanced, the other may instead be suppressed, and vice versa. Second, the sign of the heat current of one reservoir may change (i.e., crossover from heat absorption to heat release, or vice versa) if a damping rate or the coupling strength between the two TLSs is swept through a critical value, which depends on the temperature settings for the three reservoirs. Due to the asymmetric couplings of the two TLSs to the three reservoirs, the thermal rectification occurs without introducing any additional asymmetry to the systems.