Quantum heat engine based on quantum interferometry: The SU(1,1) Otto cycle

We present a quantum heat engine based on a quantum Otto cycle whose working substance reproduces the same outcomes as an <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><a:mrow><a:mi>SU</a:mi><a:mo>(</a:mo><a:mn>1</a:mn><a:mo>,</a:mo><a:mn>1</a:mn><a:mo>)</a:mo></a:mrow></a:math> interference process at the end of each adiabatic transformation. This device takes advantage of the extraordinary quantum metrological features of the <b:math xmlns:b="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><b:mrow><b:mi>SU</b:mi><b:mo>(</b:mo><b:mn>1</b:mn><b:mo>,</b:mo><b:mn>1</b:mn><b:mo>)</b:mo></b:mrow></b:math> interferometer to better discriminate the sources of uncertainty of relevant observables during each adiabatic stroke of the cycle. In particular, the <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><c:mrow><c:mi>SU</c:mi><c:mo>(</c:mo><c:mn>1</c:mn><c:mo>,</c:mo><c:mn>1</c:mn><c:mo>)</c:mo></c:mrow></c:math> adiabatic transformations enable high-precision estimations of the energy extracted from the adiabatic stroke, despite the presence of thermal fluctuations. Applications to circuit QED platforms are also discussed.