We have developed a new type of quantum engine, the Pauli engine, which is experimentally
realized with an ultracold quantum gas of lithium-6 atoms. A conventional heat engine converts
thermal energy into mechanical work. Instead of thermal energy, the Pauli engine uses the change in
energy caused by the change in quantum statistics from Bose-Einstein to Fermi-Dirac and vice
versa. This is realized by a change in the microscopic interaction along the so-called BEC-BCS
crossover, where the gas undergoes a transition from a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC)
to a quantum state analogous to conventional superconductors, as in the theory of Bardeen, Cooper
and Schrieffer (BCS). Experimentally, the quantum machine has already achieved an efficiency of
25%.
Here you can find the paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06469-8
The project was carried out in collaboration with our theory colleagues K. Menon, E. Cuestas, T. Fogarty and T. Busch from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (Japan), as well as E. Lutz from the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Stuttgart (Germany).