How can an autonomous quantum Maxwell demon harness correlated information?

ORAL

Abstract

We study an autonomous quantum system, which exhibits refrigeration under an information-work tradeoff like a Maxwell demon. The system becomes correlated as a single “demon” qubit interacts sequentially with memory qubits while in contact with two heat reservoirs of different temperatures. Using strong subadditivity of the von Neumann entropy, we derive a global Clausius inequality to show thermodynamical advantages from access to correlated information. It is demonstrated, in a matrix product density operator formalism, that our demon can simultaneously realize refrigeration against a thermal gradient and erasure of information from its memory, which is impossible without correlations. The phenomenon can be even enhanced by the presence of quantum coherence.

*The work was supported in part by National Science Foundation grants PHY-1212445 and PHY-1521016.

Authors

  • Adrian Chapman

    • Univ of New Mexico
  • Akimasa Miyake

    • Univ of New Mexico