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Viewpoint: Maxwell’s Demon Meets Nonequilibrium Quantum Thermodynamics

John Goold

Published Dec 5, 2016• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

A new implementation of a Maxwell’s demon can control entropy production in a quantum-mechanical system that is driven out of thermal equilibrium.

Related papers

Maxwell’s Demon Meets Nonequilibrium Quantum Thermodynamics

John Goold

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 challenging the second law of thermodynamics.In a modern standpoint, it is regarded as a feedback control mechanism and the limits of thermodynamics are recast incorporating information-to-energy conversion.We derive a trade-off relation between information-theoretic quantities empowering the design of an efficient Maxwell's demon in a quantum system.The demon is experimentally implemented as a spin-1=2 quantum memory that acquires information, and employs it to control the dynamics of another spin-1=2 system, through a natural interaction.Noise and imperfections in this protocol are investigated by the assessment of its effectiveness.This realization provides experimental evidence that the irreversibility in a nonequilibrium dynamics can be mitigated by assessing microscopic information and applying a feed-forward strategy at the quantum scale.

Physics•Dec 5, 2016•2 citations

Experimental Rectification of Entropy Production by Maxwell’s Demon in a Quantum System

Patrice A. Camati, John P. S. Peterson, Tiago B. Batalhão +5 more

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 challenging the second law of thermodynamics. In a modern standpoint, it is regarded as a feedback control mechanism and the limits of thermodynamics are recast incorporating information-to-energy conversion. We derive a trade-off relation between information-theoretic quantities empowering the design of an efficient Maxwell's demon in a quantum system. The demon is experimentally implemented as a spin-1/2 quantum memory that acquires information, and employs it to control the dynamics of another spin-1/2 system, through a natural interaction. Noise and imperfections in this protocol are investigated by the assessment of its effectiveness. This realization provides experimental evidence that the irreversibility in a nonequilibrium dynamics can be mitigated by assessing microscopic information and applying a feed-forward strategy at the quantum scale.

arXiv:1605.08821•Physical Review Letters•Dec 5, 2016•167 citations

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The birth, life, and death of Maxwell’s demon provoked a profound discussion about the interplay between thermodynamics, computation, and information. Even after its resolution, the demon continues to inspire a multidisciplinary field. This tutorial offers a comprehensive overview of Maxwell’s demon and its enduring influence, bridging classical concepts with modern insights in thermodynamics, information theory, and quantum mechanics.

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The Second Law, Maxwell's Demon, and Work Derivable from Quantum Heat Engines

Tien D. Kieu

With a class of quantum heat engines which consists of two-energy-eigenstate systems undergoing, respectively, quantum adiabatic processes and energy exchanges with heat baths at different stages of a cycle, we are able to clarify some important aspects of the second law of thermodynamics. The quantum heat engines also offer a practical way, as an alternative to Szilard's engine, to physically realize Maxwell's demon. While respecting the second law on the average, they are also capable of extracting more work from the heat baths than is otherwise possible in thermal equilibrium.

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Viewpoint: Equilibration in Quantum Systems

Sebastian Deffner

Two research groups show that specific contributions to entropy may be the key to understanding how and when quantum systems equilibrate.

•Nov 13, 2019•0 citations

Photonic Maxwell’s Demon: Feed-forward methods for photonic thermodynamic tasks

Maxime J. Jacquet, Guilherme Luiz Zanin, Michael Antesberger +3 more

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.

EPJ Web of Conferences•Jan 1, 2022•0 citations
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 challenging the second law of thermodynamics.In a modern standpoint, it is regarded as a feedback control mechanism and the limits of thermodynamics are recast incorporating information-to-energy conversion.We derive a trade-off relation between information-theoretic quantities empowering the design of an efficient Maxwell's demon in a quantum system.The demon is experimentally implemented as a spin-1=2 quantum memory that acquires information, and employs it to control the dynamics of another spin-1=2 system, through a natural interaction.Noise and imperfections in this protocol are investigated by the assessment of its effectiveness.This realization provides experimental evidence that the irreversibility in a nonequilibrium dynamics can be mitigated by assessing microscopic information and applying a feed-forward strategy at the quantum scale.
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 challenging the second law of thermodynamics. In a modern standpoint, it is regarded as a feedback control mechanism and the limits of thermodynamics are recast incorporating information-to-energy conversion. We derive a trade-off relation between information-theoretic quantities empowering the design of an efficient Maxwell's demon in a quantum system. The demon is experimentally implemented as a spin-1/2 quantum memory that acquires information, and employs it to control the dynamics of another spin-1/2 system, through a natural interaction. Noise and imperfections in this protocol are investigated by the assessment of its effectiveness. This realization provides experimental evidence that the irreversibility in a nonequilibrium dynamics can be mitigated by assessing microscopic information and applying a feed-forward strategy at the quantum scale.
With a class of quantum heat engines which consists of two-energy-eigenstate systems undergoing, respectively, quantum adiabatic processes and energy exchanges with heat baths at different stages of a cycle, we are able to clarify some important aspects of the second law of thermodynamics. The quantum heat engines also offer a practical way, as an alternative to Szilard's engine, to physically realize Maxwell's demon. While respecting the second law on the average, they are also capable of extracting more work from the heat baths than is otherwise possible in thermal equilibrium.
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.