733 research outputs found
Designing optimal discrete-feedback thermodynamic engines
Feedback can be utilized to convert information into useful work, making it
an effective tool for increasing the performance of thermodynamic engines.
Using feedback reversibility as a guiding principle, we devise a method for
designing optimal feedback protocols for thermodynamic engines that extract all
the information gained during feedback as work. Our method is based on the
observation that in a feedback-reversible process the measurement and the
time-reversal of the ensuing protocol both prepare the system in the same
probabilistic state. We illustrate the utility of our method with two examples
of the multi-particle Szilard engine.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, submitted to New J. Phy
A quantum solution to the arrow-of-time dilemma
The arrow of time dilemma: the laws of physics are invariant for time
inversion, whereas the familiar phenomena we see everyday are not (i.e. entropy
increases). I show that, within a quantum mechanical framework, all phenomena
which leave a trail of information behind (and hence can be studied by physics)
are those where entropy necessarily increases or remains constant. All
phenomena where the entropy decreases must not leave any information of their
having happened. This situation is completely indistinguishable from their not
having happened at all. In the light of this observation, the second law of
thermodynamics is reduced to a mere tautology: physics cannot study those
processes where entropy has decreased, even if they were commonplace.Comment: Contains slightly more material than the published version (the
additional material is clearly labeled in the latex source). Because of PRL's
title policy, the leading "A" was left out of the title in the published
pape
Toward physical realizations of thermodynamic resource theories
Conventional statistical mechanics describes large systems and averages over
many particles or over many trials. But work, heat, and entropy impact the
small scales that experimentalists can increasingly control, e.g., in
single-molecule experiments. The statistical mechanics of small scales has been
quantified with two toolkits developed in quantum information theory: resource
theories and one-shot information theory. The field has boomed recently, but
the theorems amassed have hardly impacted experiments. Can thermodynamic
resource theories be realized experimentally? Via what steps can we shift the
theory toward physical realizations? Should we care? I present eleven
opportunities in physically realizing thermodynamic resource theories.Comment: Publication information added. Cosmetic change
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