Tag Archive for 'Maxwell’s demon' | Sci.News

Sketch of the quantum Maxwell demon experiment: (A) after preparation (step 1) in a thermal or quantum state by a pulse at frequency fs, the system S (superconducting qubit) state is recorded (step 2) into the demon’s quantum memory D (microwave cavity); a pulse incoming toward port a at fD populates the cavity mode with a state ραin only if the qubit is in the ground state |g>s; this information is used to extract work W (step 3) which charges a battery B (a microwave pulse at frequency fs on port b) with one extra photon; importantly, the system emits this photon only when the demon’s cavity is empty; the work is determined by amplifying and measuring the average output power at fs on bout; the memory reset (step 4) is performed by cavity relaxation. (B) when the system starts in a quantum superposition of |g>s and |e>s, the demon and system are entangled after step 2. Image credit: Cottet et al, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1704827114.

Physicists See Maxwell’s Demon at Work

Jul 6, 2017 by News Staff

New research led by Paris Diderot University offers a view into the inner workings of the ‘mind’ of Maxwell’s demon, a famous thought experiment...