IWNET12
IWNET12
Optimizing Cooling Processes - A Dynamic View on the Third Law
Karl Heinz Homann1
1 TU Chemnitz, Germany
Abstract
The Third law is often understood to be a statement about the impossibility to reach absolute zero in a
nite number of steps. The basis of this consideration is classical equilibrium thermodynamics. In this talk a
dynamical view on the Third Law is presented. At the center of this approach is the question how cooling rates
change as one approaches absolute zero. Especially we will study limits on the cooling rates as functions of the
temperature of the cold bath. At low temperatures quantum eects become more and more important, and
thus we will deal with quantum refrigerators. It turns out that fast adiabatic processes play a crucial role in
limiting the cooling rates.
E-mail: hoffmann@physik.tu-chemnitz.de

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