Quantum refrigerators in finite-time cycle duration

Abstract: We derive cooling rate and coefficient of performance as well as their variances for a quantum Otto engine proceeding in finite-time cycle period. This machine consists of two driven strokes, where the system isolated from the heat reservoir undergoes finite-time unitary transformation, and two isochoric steps, where the finite-time system-bath interaction durations take the system away from the equilibrium even at the respective ends of the two stages. We explicitly calculate the statistics of cooling rate and coefficient of performance for the machine operating with an analytically solvable two-level system. We clarify the role of finite-time durations of four processes on the machine performance. We show that there is the trade-off between the performance parameter and its corresponding variance, thereby indicating that the cooling rate or coefficient of performance can be enhanced, but at the cost of increasing the corresponding fluctuations.