Dynamically induced heat rectification in quantum systems

Abstract

Heat rectifiers are systems that conduct heat asymmetrically for forward and reversed temperature gradients. We present an analytical study of heat rectification in linear quantum systems. We demonstrate that asymmetric heat currents can be induced in a linear system only if it is dynamically driven. This asymmetry emerges when the driving frequency favors the nonsymmetric heat exchange processes at the expense of the symmetric ones. Finally, we demonstrate the feasibility of such driven harmonic network to work as a thermal transistor, quantifying its efficiency through the dynamical amplification factor.