“Maxwell's demon in quantum wonderland”

Dr. Sang Wook Kim

Pusan National University

Jun. 2 (Fri.), 4:00 PM

#1323 (E6-2. 1st fl.)

Abstract: 

In this talk we will discuss the quantum mechanical nature of Maxwell's demon both in dynamical and in information point of view and how to exorcise it. The Szilard engine (SZE) is the quintessence of Maxwell's demon, which can extract the work from a heat bath by utilizing information. We show that more (less) work can be extracted from the bosonic (fermionic) SZE due to the indistinguishability of quantum identical particles. The optimal condition of the quantum SZE will be discussed in the context of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. We also present that purely quantum mechanical information such as quantum entanglement can be utilized to extract thermodynamic work.

Contact: SunYoung Choi, (sunyoungchoi@kaist.ac.kr)