We propose a multilevel quantum heat engine with a working medium described by a generalized Rabi model which consists of a two-level system coupled to a single-mode bosonic field. The model is constructed to be a continuum limit of a quantum biological description of light-harvesting complexes so that it can amplify quantum coherence by a mechanism which is a quantum analog of classical Huygens clocks. The engine operates in a quantum Otto cycle where the working medium is coupled to classical heat baths in the isochoric processes of the four-stroke cycle, while either the coupling strength or the resonance frequency is changed in the adiabatic stages. We found that such an engine can produce work with an efficiency close to the Carnot bound when it operates at low temperatures and in the ultrastrong-coupling regime. The interplay of the effects of quantum coherence and quantum correlations on the engine performance is discussed in terms of second-order coherence, quantum mutual information, and the logarithmic negativity of entanglement. We point out that the proposed quantum Otto engine can be implemented experimentally with modern circuit quantum electrodynamic systems where flux qubits can be coupled ultrastrongly to superconducting transmission-line resonators.

• Received 10 November 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.91.023816