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arXiv:2412.03241

A many-particle bosonic quantum Maxwell demon

Josef Hloušek, Tobias Denzler, Vojtěch Švarc, Miroslav Ježek, Eric Lutz, Radim Filip

Published Dec 4, 2024• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Energy extraction from a measured quantum system is a cornerstone of information thermodynamics as illustrated by Maxwell's demon. The nonequilibrium physics of many-particle systems is additionally strongly influenced by quantum statistics. We here report the first experimental realization of a quantum demon in a many-particle photonic setup made of two identical thermal light beams. We show that single-photon measurements combined with feedforward operation may deterministically increase the mean energy of one beam faster than energy fluctuations, thus improving the thermodynamic stability of the device. We moreover demonstrate that bosonic statistics can enhance the energy output above the classical limit, and further analyze the counterintuitive thermodynamics of the demon using an information-theoretic approach. Our results underscore the pivotal role of many-particle statistics for enhanced energy extraction in quantum thermodynamics.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2412.03241

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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 gaining information at the single-particle level and applying classical feed-forward operations, allowing for the extraction of work. Here we implement a photonic version of Maxwell's Demon with active feed-forward in a fibre-based system using ultrafast optical switches. We experimentally show that, if correlations exist between the two thermal baths, the Demon can generate a temperature difference over an order of magnitude larger than without correlations, and so extract more work. Our work demonstrates the great potential of photonic experiments – which provide a unique degree of control on the system – to access new regimes in quantum thermodynamics.
Abstract The concept of Maxwell’s demon, proposed in classical physics as a means to extract work from a thermodynamics system beyond the constraints set by the second law of thermodynamics, has since been extended to modern quantum physics. Realization of the quantum Maxwell’s demon remains of actual interest given the potential of continuous-variable systems in quantum thermodynamics and current experimental opportunities. We propose a quantum Maxwell’s demon method, based on a Jaynes-Cummings two-level system, for subtracting bosonic energy inferred from successful measurements of excited qubits after linear and nonlinear interactions. The effect of these subtractions can suppress the tails of bosonic noise better than the linear interactions alone. The system statistics reaches an out-of-equilibrium state, becoming much closer to Poissonian distributions as indicated by the mean-to-noise ratio. The inclusion of a few additional optimal nonlinear subtractions can improve the success rate to ten times higher than the linear scheme, making the method significantly more efficient in exciting hundreds of qubits.
Maxwell’s Demon is at the heart of the interrelation between quantum information processing and thermodynamics. In this thought experiment, a demon extracts work from two thermal baths at equilibrium by gaining information about them at the single-particle level and applying classical feed-forward operations. In this talk I will show how to implement a photonic version of Maxwell’s Demon with active feed-forward in a fiber-based system using ultrafast optical switches. This is the first realisation of an active Demon. The experiment [1] shows that, if correlations exist between the two thermal baths, the Demon can extract over an order of magnitude more work than without correlations. This demonstrates the great potential of photonic experiments – which provide a unique degree of control on the system – to access new regimes in quantum thermodynamics.
We report an experimental realization of Maxwell's demon in a photonic setup. We show that a measurement at the few-photons level followed by a feed-forward operation allows the extraction of work from intense thermal light into an electric circuit. The interpretation of the experiment stimulates the derivation of an equality relating work extraction to information acquired by measurement. We derive a bound using this relation and show that it is in agreement with the experimental results. Our work puts forward photonic systems as a platform for experiments related to information in thermodynamics.
Abstract Maxwell's demon principle of extracting valuable resources through measuring fluctuations in the system already stimulated modern quantum physics. In contrast to classical physics, a free coupling to a probe and its free measurement fundamentally shape the system state. This becomes a new dimension of the Maxwell demon effect, as in addition to the gained information, the back action on the system can be exploited and essential for further applications. We investigate quantum bosonic Maxwell's demon nonlinearly coupled to a two-level system to shift its paradigm to quantum nonlinear physics. The deterministic multiple subtractions of single energy quantum by an energetically conservative Jaynes-Cummings interaction leads to an out-of-equilibrium state. Although still super-Poissonian, it can resonantly excite another two-level system better than any thermal state. Making use of an already available and energetically conserved nonlinear Jaynes-Cummings to absorb multiple bosons, nonlinear subtractions can exclusively suppress the tails of bosonic noise to reach an out-of-equilibrium state whose statistics and mean-to-noise ratio are close to that of Possonian distributions. The improvement becomes significant for successfully exciting hundreds of qubits as including few additional optimal nonlinear subtractions can improve the success rate 10 times higher than the linear scheme.