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Second law, Landauer’s principle and autonomous information machine

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Abstract

Second law of thermodynamics can be apparently violated in systems whose dynamics depend on information acquired by measurement. However, when one considers measurement and erasure together with the system, it saves the second law. We consider the simple example of an information machine, where information is used as a resource to increase the machine’s performance. The system is connected to two baths, a work source, and a moving tape which is used as an information reservoir. The performance of the device is autonomous. The system acts as an engine, erasure or refrigerator. Even combination of any two is possible. All these possibilities are allowed by the generalized second law.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physics, Sachivalaya Marg, Bhubaneswar, 751 005, India

    Shubhashis Rana & A M Jayannavar

Authors
  1. Shubhashis Rana
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  2. A M Jayannavar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A M Jayannavar.

Additional information

Shubhashis Rana is a post doctoral research scholar at the S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata. His main research interest is non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and information theory.

A M Jayannavar is a Senior Professor at the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar. His research interest lies broadly in different aspects of statistical mechanics

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Rana, S., Jayannavar, A.M. Second law, Landauer’s principle and autonomous information machine. Reson 22, 659–676 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-017-0510-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-017-0510-1

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