2014/07/31 by Philipp Strasberg, Gernot Schaller, Tobias Brandes +1
Mathematics · Neuroscience · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Brownian motion #Entropy (arrow of time) #Entropy production #Law #Master equation #Mathematics #Maxwell's demon #Neural dynamics and brain function #Observer (physics) #Physics #Quantum #Quantum mechanics #Second law of thermodynamics #Spin (aerodynamics) #Statistical physics #Work (physics) #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.stat-mech #stochastic dynamics and bifurcation
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.90.062107
published as Phys. Rev. E 90, 062107 (2014) · 13 pages, 6 figures
arxiv created 2014/11/18 · openalex publication_date 2014/12/01 · arxiv updated 2014/12/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We propose a physically realizable Maxwell's demon device using a spin valve interacting unitarily for a short time with electrons placed on a tape of quantum dots, which is thermodynamically equivalent to the device introduced by Mandal and Jarzynski [D. Mandal and C. Jarzynski, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 109, 11641 (2012)]. The model is exactly solvable and we show that it can be equivalently interpreted as a Brownian ratchet demon. We then consider a measurement-based discrete feedback scheme, which produces identical system dynamics, but possesses a different second law inequality. We show that the second law for discrete feedback control can provide a smaller, equal, or larger bound on the maximum extractable work as compared to the second law involving the tape of bits. Finally, we derive an effective master equation governing the system evolution for Poisson distributed bits on the tape (or measurement times, respectively) and we show that its associated entropy production rate contains the same physical statement as the second law involving the tape of bits.