A quantum battery exploits quantum correlations between its component cells to achieve charging and discharging rates that are unattainable for classical devices (see Viewpoint: Sizing Up the Potential of Quantum Batteries). Now Brij Mohan at the University of Oulu in Finland and colleagues have quantified the trade-off between that advantage and a quantum battery’s ability to deliver steady, reliable energy [1]. The researchers also identified a battery architecture that optimizes both performance and reliability.
Central to the team’s analysis is the relationship between power and work. Like momentum and position, in quantum physics these quantities are noncommuting, which means that their fluctuations cannot be simultaneously reduced to arbitrarily small values. Consequently, reducing the battery’s power fluctuations increases the fluctuation in the total work delivered, and vice versa. The inherent quantum dynamical fluctuations that affect each quantity independently also come into play.
To read more, click here.