2020/08/25 by Qian Zeng, Jin Wang, Zeng, Qian +1
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Demon #Dissipative system #Entropy (arrow of time) #Entropy production #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluctuation theorem #Mathematics #Maxwell's demon #Mesoscopic physics #Non-equilibrium thermodynamics #Physics #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum mechanics #Second law of thermodynamics #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) #Statistical physics #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2008.10890
published in arXiv (Cornell University) (Cornell University)
arxiv created 2020/08/25 · openalex publication_date 2020/08/25 · arxiv updated 2020/08/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
With the increasing interest for the control of the system at the nano and mesoscopic scales, studies have been focused on the limit of the energy dissipation in an open system by refining the concept of the Maxwell's demon. The well-known Sagawa-Ueda fluctuation theorem provides an explanation of the demon: the absence of a part of demon's information leads to an improper entropy production which violates the thermodynamic 2nd law. Realizing that the demon contributes not only to the system but also to the environments, we introduce the dissipative information to quantify the total contribution of the demon, rather than using an improper entropy production. We prove a set of new fluctuation theorems based on this, which can be used to uncover the truth behind the demon: The controlled system does not violate the 2nd law at any coarse-grained level for the demon's control. However, there exists an inevitable demon-induced dissipative information which always increases the entropy production. A consequence of these theorems is that, less work and more heat can be extracted and generated respectively by a demon than the limits predicted by the Ueda-Sagawa theorem. We also suggest a possible realization of the experimental estimation of these work and heat bounds, which can be measured and tested.