Universal two-level quantum Otto machine under a squeezed reservoir.

We study an Otto heat machine whose working substance is a single two-level system interacting with a cold thermal reservoir and with a squeezed hot thermal reservoir. By adjusting the squeezing or the adiabaticity parameter (the probability of transition) we show that our two-level system can function as a universal heat machine, either producing net work by consuming heat or consuming work that is used to cool or heat environments. Using our model we study the performance of these machine in the finite-time regime of the isentropic strokes, which is a regime that contributes to make them useful from a practical point of view.

Pattern formation and coexistence domains for a nonlocal population dynamics.

In this Rapid Communication we propose a most general equation to study pattern formation for one-species populations and their limit domains in systems of length L. To accomplish this, we include nonlocality in the growth and competition terms, where the integral kernels now depend on characteristic length parameters α and ß. Therefore, we derived a parameter space (α,ß) where it is possible to analyze a coexistence curve α^{*}=α^{*}(ß) that delimits domains for the existence (or absence) of pattern formation in population dynamics systems. We show that this curve is analogous to the coexistence curve in classical thermodynamics and critical phenomena physics. We have successfully compared this model with experimental data for diffusion of Escherichia coli populations.