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We employ the recently developed framework of the energetics of stochastic processes (called `stochastic energetics'), to re-analyze the Carnot cycle in detail, taking account of fluctuations, without taking the thermodynamic limit. We find…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2009-10-31 Ken Sekimoto , Fumiko Takagi , Tsuyoshi Hondou

Recent experiments have implemented resetting by means of a time-varying external harmonic trap whereby the trap stiffness is changed from an initial to a final value in finite-time and then the system is reset when it relaxes to an…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2025-07-21 Deepak Gupta , Kristian Stølevik Olsen , Supriya Krishnamurthy

The study of feedback control inspired by Maxwell's demon is central to the understanding of the relationship between thermodynamics and information. In this paper, we establish fundamental lower limits on the work costs of system…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2026-03-10 Kaiyuan Ji , Gilad Gour , Mark M. Wilde

We examine stochastic processes that are used to model nonequilibrium processes (e.g, pulling RNA or dragging colloids) and so deliberately violate detailed balance. We argue that by combining an information-theoretic measure of…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2009-11-13 R. A. Blythe

Maxwell's demon is a famous thought experiment and a paradigm of the thermodynamics of information. It is related to Szilard's engine, a two-state information-to-work conversion device in which the demon performs single measurements and…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2023-05-11 Paul Raux , Felix Ritort

Information-driven engines that rectify thermal fluctuations are a modern realization of the Maxwell-demon thought experiment. We introduce a simple design based on a heavy colloidal particle, held by an optical trap and immersed in water.…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2021-05-21 Tushar K. Saha , Joseph N. E. Lucero , Jannik Ehrich , David A. Sivak , John Bechhoefer

As early as 1867, two years after the introduction of the concept of entropy by Clausius, Maxwell showed that the limitations imposed by the second law of thermodynamics depend on the information that one possesses about the state of a…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2023-06-23 Juan M. R. Parrondo

So far, feedback-driven systems have been discussed using (i) measurement and control, (ii) a tape interacting with a system or (iii) by identifying an implicit Maxwell demon in steady state transport. We derive the corresponding second…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2014-03-05 A. C. Barato , U. Seifert

Quantum operations provide a general description of the state changes allowed by quantum mechanics. The reversal of quantum operations is important for quantum error-correcting codes, teleportation, and reversing quantum measurements. We…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2009-10-30 M. A. Nielsen , Carlton M. Caves , Benjamin Schumacher , Howard Barnum

The second law of thermodynamics is probabilistic in nature. Its formulation requires that the state of a system be described by a probability distribution. A natural question, thereby, arises as to whether a prior knowledge about the state…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2019-04-11 P. S. Pal , A. M. Jayannavar

Maxwell's Demon is at the heart of the interrelation between quantum information processing and thermodynamics. In this thought experiment, a demon generates a temperature gradient between two thermal baths initially at equilibrium by…

Classical and quantum electronic circuits provide ideal platforms to investigate stochastic thermodynamics and they have served as a stepping stone to realize Maxwell's demons with highly controllable protocols. In this article we first…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2024-01-24 J. P. Pekola , I. M. Khaymovich

We generalize stochastic thermodynamics to include information reservoirs. Such information reservoirs, which can be modeled as a sequence of bits, modify the second law. For example, work extraction from a system in contact with a single…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2014-11-17 Andre C. Barato , Udo Seifert

Information engines can convert thermal fluctuations of a bath at temperature $T$ into work at rates of order $k_\mathrm{B}T$ per relaxation time of the system. We show experimentally that such engines, when in contact with a bath that is…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2023-12-25 Tushar K. Saha , Jannik Ehrich , Momčilo Gavrilov , Susanne Still , David A. Sivak , John Bechhoefer

We consider an autonomous implementation of Maxwell's demon in a quantum dot architecture. As in the original thought experiment, only the second law of thermodynamics is seemingly violated when disregarding the demon. The autonomous…

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics · Physics 2022-11-08 Rafael Sánchez , Peter Samuelsson , Patrick P. Potts

In the Second Law of Thermodynamics which is a macroscopic physical law that states that in any isolated system, entropy can only increase and order, or organization, can only decrease. This means that in the long run, energy will always…

Classical Physics · Physics 2021-11-25 Srinivasa Rao. P

In Szilard's engine, a demon measures a one-particle gas and applies feedback to extract work from thermal fluctuations, embodying Maxwell's notion that information reduces thermodynamic entropy - an apparent second-law violation. The…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2025-08-26 Xiangjun Xing

We present an axiomatic framework for thermodynamics that incorporates information as a fundamental concept. The axioms describe both ordinary thermodynamic processes and those in which information is acquired, used and erased, as in the…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2018-05-09 Austin Hulse , Benjamin Schumacher , Michael D. Westmoreland

We provide a unified thermodynamic formalism describing information transfers in autonomous as well as nonautonomous systems described by stochastic thermodynamics. We demonstrate how information is continuously generated in an auxiliary…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2014-08-06 Jordan M. Horowitz , Massimiliano Esposito

The concept of Maxwell demon plays an essential role in connecting thermodynamics and information theory, while entanglement and non-locality are fundamental features of quantum theory. Given the rapid advancements in the field of quantum…