Mpemba effect in self-contained quantum refrigerators: Accelerated cooling
Phys. Rev. A 113, 022211 – Published 17 February, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/8fp4-15mq
Abstract
We consider the qubit-qutrit model of self-contained quantum refrigerator and observe the quantum Mpemba effect in its cooling. In this system, the qutrit acts as the refrigerator while the qubit is to be cooled. The entire system is coupled to three bosonic heat baths, due to which the dynamics of the system is governed by a Gorini-Kossakowski-Sudarshan-Lindblad master equation. We investigate the Liouvillian that generates the dynamics of the system and find that it has a block-diagonal form. The dynamics of each element of the system's density matrix can be determined by solving the dynamical equation of the corresponding block that contains it. We find that the steady state belongs to the block containing only the diagonal elements in the energy basis. We numerically solve for the steady state and investigate the steady-state cooling over a significant region of the parameter space. Moreover, we demonstrate the quantum Mpemba effect in the refrigerator: A Mpemba state obtained by applying a unitary on the equilibrium state of the system reaches the steady state faster than the equilibrium state, despite the Mpemba state being initially further away from the steady state. The Mpemba state thus leads to an acceleration in cooling of the cold qubit. We also find that both local and global unitaries on the qubit-qutrit system can generate the Mpemba state. Finally, we study the effect of the system-bath couplings on the Mpemba effect.
