Photons are massless, noninteracting particles, and thermodynamics seems to be completely inappropriate in their description. Here we present two examples of the opposite: connecting thermodynamics with information through Maxwell’s Demon provides interesting insight on properties of light fields. This does not amount to directly applying thermodynamics to photons, but rather helps to obtain tools and concepts from thermodynamics to manipulate and evaluate the information content of light. The examples presented here pinpoint some of the challenges that arise when putting a thought experiment into practice and provide new insights into the relation between thermodynamic work and information.
Mancino, L., Ciampini, M.A., Vidrighin, M.D., Sbroscia, M., Gianani, I., Barbieri, M. (2018). Maxwell’s Demon in Photonic Systems. In Thermodynamics in the Quantum Regime (pp. 939-957) [10.1007/978-3-319-99046-0_39].
Maxwell’s Demon in Photonic Systems
Mancino, Luca;Sbroscia, Marco;Gianani, Ilaria;Barbieri, Marco
2018-01-01
Abstract
Photons are massless, noninteracting particles, and thermodynamics seems to be completely inappropriate in their description. Here we present two examples of the opposite: connecting thermodynamics with information through Maxwell’s Demon provides interesting insight on properties of light fields. This does not amount to directly applying thermodynamics to photons, but rather helps to obtain tools and concepts from thermodynamics to manipulate and evaluate the information content of light. The examples presented here pinpoint some of the challenges that arise when putting a thought experiment into practice and provide new insights into the relation between thermodynamic work and information.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
