Probabilistic work extraction on a classical oscillator beyond the second law

Abstract

We demonstrate experimentally that, applying optimal protocols which drive the system between two equilibrium states characterized by a free energy difference $\Delta F$, we can maximize the probability of performing the transition between the two states with a work $W$ smaller than $\Delta F$. The second law holds only on average, resulting in the inequality $⟨W⟩\ge \Delta F$. The experiment is performed using an underdamped oscillator evolving in a double-well potential. We show that with a suitable choice of parameters the probability of obtaining trajectories with $W\le \Delta F$ can be larger than 95%. Very fast protocols are a key feature to obtain these results, which are explained in terms of the Jarzynski equality.

References in corpus (16)

• A nonequilibrium equality for free energy differences
• Stochastic thermodynamics, fluctuation theorems, and molecular machines
• Verification of the Crooks fluctuation theorem and recovery of RNA folding free energies
• Information heat engine: converting information to energy by feedback control
• High-precision test of Landauer's principle in a feedback trap
• Thermodynamics of a Colloidal Particle in a Time-Dependent Non-Harmonic Potential
• On the heat flux and entropy produced by thermal fluctuations
• Large work extraction and the Landauer limit in a continuous Maxwell demon
• Thermodynamic and Logical Reversibilities Revisited
• Adiabatic processes realized with a trapped Brownian particle
• Erasure without work in an asymmetric, double-well potential
• Fluctuation theorems for harmonic oscillators
• Quadrature phase interferometer for high resolution force spectroscopy
• Optimal probabilistic work extraction beyond the free energy difference with a single-electron device
• Optimal processes for probabilistic work extraction beyond the second law
• Virtual potential created by a feedback loop: taming the feedback demon to explore stochastic thermodynamics of underdamped systems

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Characterization and optimization of heat engines: Pareto-optimal fronts and universal features
• Experimentally achieving minimal dissipation via thermodynamically optimal transport
• Apparent violations of the second law in the quantum-classical dynamics of interacting levitated nanoparticles
• Revising the quantum work fluctuation framework to encompass energy conservation