Maxwell's demon as a self-contained, information-powered refrigerator
http://phys.org/news/2016-01-maxwell...rigerator.html


In 1867, Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell challenged the second
law of thermodynamics according to which entropy in a closed system
must always increase. In his thought experiment, Maxwell took a
closed gas container, divided it into two parts with an inner wall
and provided the wall with a small trap door. By opening and closing
the door, the creature – 'demon' – controlling it could separate slow
cold and fast warm particles to their respective sides, thus creating
a temperature difference in contravention of the laws of
thermodynamics.

On theoretical level, the thought experiment has been an object of
consideration for nearly 150 years, but testing it experimentally has
been impossible until the last few years. Making use of
nanotechnology, scientists from Aalto University have now succeeded
in constructing an autonomous Maxwell's demon that makes it possible
to analyse the microscopic changes in thermodynamics. The research
results were recently published in Physical Review Letters. The work
is part of the forthcoming PhD thesis of MSc Jonne Koski at Aalto
University.


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