Heat engines with atomic superfluids controlled by twisted light

We theoretically investigate a quantum heat engine realized with a ring-trapped Bose-Einstein condensate placed in a Fabry-Pérot cavity controlled by optical fields carrying orbital angular momenta. The cavity-enhanced light-matter interaction gives rise to hybrid polaritonic eigenmodes whose photonlike or phononlike character can be reversibly controlled by detuning sweeps. This tunability enables the implementation of a thermodynamic cycle in which work extraction is governed by distinct photon and phonon reservoirs. We analyze the engine efficiency and demonstrate its explicit dependence on the orbital angular momentum of the cavity field, identifying it as a controllable parameter. Extending beyond quasi-static operation, we study finite-time cycles implemented using shortcuts to adiabaticity and show that the ideal efficiency of the engine can be preserved despite finite cycle durations.