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Related papers: Variations on a Demonic Theme: Szilard's Other Eng…

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Maxwell's demon is a special case of a feedback controlled system, where information gathered by measurement is utilized by driving a system along a thermodynamic process that depends on the measurement outcome. The demon illustrates that…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2015-06-16 Jordan M. Horowitz , Juan M. R. Parrondo

We propose a new thermodynamic equality and several inequalities concerning the relationship between work and information for an isothermal process with Maxwell's demon. Our approach is based on the formulation a la Jarzynski of the…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2007-05-23 Takahiro Sagawa , Masahito Ueda

The limit of energy saving in the control of small systems has recently attracted much interest due to the concept refinement of the Maxwell demon. Inspired by a newly proposed set of fluctuation theorems, we report the first experimental…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2024-09-02 L. -L. Yan , J. -T. Bu , Q. Zeng , K. Zhang , K. -F. Cui , F. Zhou , S. -L. Su , L. Chen , J. Wang , Gang Chen , M. Feng

By developing and leveraging an explicit molecular realisation of a measurement-and-feedback-powered Szilard engine, we investigate the extraction of work from complex environments by minimal machines with finite capacity for memory and…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2019-09-04 Rory A. Brittain , Nick S. Jones , Thomas E. Ouldridge

According to Landauer's principle, erasure of information is the only part of a computation process that unavoidably involves energy dissipation. If done reversibly, such an erasure generates the minimal heat of $k_BT\ln 2$ per erased bit…

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics · Physics 2017-01-20 Dmitri V. Averin , Jukka P. Pekola

In this paper two connected Szilard single molecule engines (with different temperature) model of Maxwell's demon are used to demonstrate and analysis the logical compare operation. The logical and physical complexity of compare operations…

Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability · Physics 2014-08-06 Feng Pan , Heng-Liang Zhang , Jie Qi

We address the question of verifying the quantumness of thermal machines. A Szil\'ard engine is truly quantum if its work output cannot be described by a local hidden state (LHS) model, i. e. an objective local statistical ensemble.…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2019-12-25 Konstantin Beyer , Kimmo Luoma , Walter T. Strunz

Here, we show the implementation of a complete cycle of a quantum engine fuelled by information. This engine is a quantum version of the Szilard engine, where information is used to extract heat from the environment and fully convert it…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2020-06-19 John P. S. Peterson , Roberto S. Sarthour , Raymond Laflamme

The probabilistic information flow and natural computational capability of a system with two magnetic skyrmions at room temperature have been experimentally evaluated. Based on this evaluation, an all-solid-state built-in Maxwell's demon…

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics · Physics 2025-06-17 Yoshishige Suzuki , Hiroki Mori , Soma Miki , Kota Emoto , Ryo Ishikawa , Eiiti Tamura , Hikaru Nomura , Minori Goto

The out of equilibrium nature of active systems can be exploited for the design of information-based engines. We design two types of an active Szilard engine that use a Maxwell daemon to extract work from an active bath composed of…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2022-12-07 P. Malgaretti , H. Stark

Maxwell's demon explores the role of information in physical processes. Employing information about microscopic degrees of freedom, this "intelligent observer" is capable of compensating entropy production (or extracting work), apparently…

Maxwellian ratchets are autonomous, finite-state thermodynamic engines that implement input-output informational transformations. Previous studies of these "demons" focused on how they exploit environmental resources to generate work: They…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2020-09-02 Alexandra M. Jurgens , James P. Crutchfield

We introduce a family of Maxwellian Demons for which correlations among information bearing degrees of freedom can be calculated exactly and in compact analytical form. This allows one to precisely determine Demon functional thermodynamic…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2016-03-23 A. B. Boyd , D. Mandal , J. P. Crutchfield

The paradox of Maxwell's demon motivated the development of information thermodynamics and the creation of nanoscale information engines. We now understand that machines such as the molecular motors within cells can in principle harvest…

To induce transport, detailed balance must be broken. A common mechanism is to bias the dynamics with a thermodynamic fuel, such as chemical energy. An intriguing, alternative strategy is for a Maxwell demon to effect the bias using…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2015-06-11 Jordan M. Horowitz , Takahiro Sagawa , Juan M. R. Parrondo

A demonic being, introduced by Maxwell, to miraculously create thermal non-equilibrium and violate the Second law of thermodynamics, has been among the most intriguing and elusive wishful concepts for over 150 years. Maxwell and his…

History and Philosophy of Physics · Physics 2020-04-02 Milivoje M. Kostic

In Szilard's engine, measurement and feedback allows to extract work from an equilibrium environment, a process otherwise forbidden by the laws of thermodynamics. Recent theoretical developments have established fluctuation theorems and…

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics · Physics 2025-11-14 David Barker , Sebastian Lehmann , Kimberly A. Dick , Peter Samuelsson , Ville Maisi , Patrick P. Potts

This work provides an overview of key historical developments in the formulation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, focusing on the notorious challenge of ``Maxwell's Demon'', a hypothetical creature who could presumably violate that law.…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2026-05-19 R. E. Kastner

The so-called information-thermodynamics link created by a thought experiment of Szilard became a core of the modern orthodoxy in the field of quantum information and resources theory in quantum thermodynamics. We remind existing objections…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2019-05-28 Robert Alicki , Michal Horodecki

The information-thermodynamics link is revisited, going back to the analysis of Szilard's engine. It is argued that instead of equivalence rather complementarity of physical entropy and information theoretical one is a correct concept.…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2014-06-24 Robert Alicki