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Related papers: Capturing the Demon in Szilard's Engine

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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 mathematical physical analyses of Szilard's engine and Maxwell's demon, a general assumption (explicit or implicit) is that one can neglect the energy needed for relocating the piston in Szilard's engine and for driving the trap door in…

General Physics · Physics 2012-06-26 Laszlo B. Kish , Claes G. Granqvist

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

Quantum Szilard engine constitutes an adequate interplay of thermodynamics, information theory and quantum mechanics. Szilard engines are in general operated by a Maxwell's Demon where Landauer's principle resolves the apparent paradoxes.…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2020-04-22 Alhun Aydin , Altug Sisman , Ronnie Kosloff

In an asymmetric Szilard engine model of Maxwell's demon, we show the equivalence between information theoretical and thermodynamic entropies when the demon erases information optimally. The work gain by the engine can be exactly canceled…

Classical Physics · Physics 2011-12-13 Akio Hosoya , Koji Maruyama , Yutaka Shikano

Szilard's now-famous single-molecule engine was only the first of three constructions he introduced in 1929 to resolve several paradoxes arising from Maxwell's demon. We analyze Szilard's remaining two demon models. We show that the second…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2020-03-24 Kyle J. Ray , James P. Crutchfield

We present a complete-quantum description of multi-particle Szilard engine which consists of a working substance and a Maxwell's demon. The demon is modeled as a multi-level quantum system with specific quantum control and the working…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2012-03-20 C. Y. Cai , H. Dong , C. P. Sun

I dispute the conventional claim that the second law of thermodynamics is saved from a "Maxwell's Demon" by the entropy cost of information erasure, and show that instead it is measurement that incurs the entropy cost. Thus Brillouin, who…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-07-22 R. E. Kastner

The Szilard engine stands as a compelling illustration of the intricate interplay between information and thermodynamics. While at thermodynamic equilibrium, the apparent breach of the second law of thermodynamics was reconciled by Landauer…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2024-01-17 Luca Cocconi , Letian Chen

Leo Szilard pointed out that Maxwell's demon can be replaced by machinery, thereby laying the foundation for understanding the physical nature of information. Szilard's information engine still serves as a canonical example after almost a…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2022-08-31 Susanne Still , Dorian Daimer

Szilard's one-molecule engine is operated by a Maxwell's demon attempting to convert heat to work. It is argued here that when using the demon to relate information to work (Landauer's principle), the demon's goal must be regarded as an…

History and Philosophy of Physics · Physics 2015-04-29 J. H. van Hateren

The most succinct manifestation of the second law of thermodynamics is the limitation the Landauer principle imposes on the amount of heat a Maxwell demon (MD) can convert into free energy per single bit of information obtained in a…

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics · Physics 2015-01-29 J. V. Koski , V. F. Maisi , J. P. Pekola , D. V. Averin

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…

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

The relation between entropy and information dates back to the classical Maxwell demon (MD) paradox, a thought experiment proposed in 1867 by J. C. Maxwell to violate the second law of thermodynamics. A variant of the classical MD is the…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2020-06-03 Marco Ribezzi-Crivellari , Felix Ritort

We introduce a deterministic chaotic system---the Szilard Map---that encapsulates the measurement, control, and erasure protocol by which Maxwellian Demons extract work from a heat reservoir. Implementing the Demon's control function in a…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2016-05-18 Alexander B. Boyd , James P. Crutchfield

We analyze an engine whose working fluid consists of a single quantum particle, paralleling Szilard's construction of a classical single-particle engine. Following his resolution of Maxwell's Second Law paradox using the latter, which…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2022-12-07 Maryam Ashrafi , Kyle J. Ray , Fabio Anza , James P. Crutchfield

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

In 1929, Leo Szilard invented a feedback protocol in which a hypothetical intelligence called Maxwell's demon pumps heat from an isothermal environment and transduces it to work. After an intense controversy that lasted over eighty years;…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2012-02-21 Shoichi Toyabe , Takahiro Sagawa , Masahito Ueda , Eiro Muneyuki , Masaki Sano

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
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