The Harmonic Quantum Szilárd Engine

Abstract

The Szilárd engine is a mechanism (akin to Maxwell's demon) for converting information into energy, which seemingly violates the second law of thermodynamics. Originally a classical thought experiment, it was extended to a quantized treatment by Zurek. Here, we examine a new, elegant model of a quantum Szilárd engine by replacing the traditional rigid box with a harmonic potential, extending the scope of the model. Remarkably, almost all calculations are exact. This article is suitable to students, researchers and educators interested in the conceptual links between information, entropy, and quantum measurement.

16 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (2)

• Particle in a box with a time-dependent $\delta$-function potential
• Szilard Engines as Quantum Thermodynamical Systems

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Thermal devices powered by generalized measurements with indefinite causal order