How an autonomous quantum Maxwell demon can harness correlated information
Abstract
We study an autonomous quantum system which exhibits refrigeration under an information-work trade-off like a Maxwell demon. The system becomes correlated as a single "demon" qubit interacts sequentially with memory qubits while in contact with two heat reservoirs of different temperatures. Using strong subadditivity of the von Neumann entropy, we derive a global Clausius inequality to show thermodynamic advantages from access to correlated information. It is demonstrated, in a matrix product density operator formalism, that our demon can simultaneously realize refrigeration against a thermal gradient and erasure of information from its memory, which is impossible without correlations. The phenomenon can be even enhanced by the presence of quantum coherence.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1506.09207,
title = {How an autonomous quantum Maxwell demon can harness correlated information},
author = {Adrian Chapman and Akimasa Miyake},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1506.09207},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
14 pages, 5 figures. New title, improved figures, additional explanation, updated references, and other minor changes; close to published version