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A dissipative measurement using light to detect the molec... — Carmelics

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A dissipative measurement using light to detect the molecule's location precludes a net conversion of heat into work in Szilard's engine.

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2 reasons for

1 reason against

Reasons For

2 perspectives

Reason for 1 of 2

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1.Landauer's principle establishes that any logically irreversible operation, including measurement, dissipates at least kT ln2 of energy as heat.
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2.A dissipative measurement that records the molecule's location constitutes a logically irreversible operation that destroys prior information about the system.
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3.The minimum thermodynamic cost of this irreversible measurement equals or exceeds the maximum work kT ln2 extractable from one cycle of Szilard's engine.
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Reason for 2 of 2

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1.Bennett's 1982 analysis of Maxwell's Demon demonstrates that the demon's memory must be reset between cycles, and this erasure dissipates exactly the work gained from isothermal expansion.
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2.A dissipative light-based measurement physically instantiates the memory-writing step Bennett identifies, making the entropy cost concrete rather than merely logical.
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Reasons Against

1 perspective

Reason against

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1.To detect which side contains the molecule, light is shone into one side and scattering indicates the molecule's presence.
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2.If the system is in thermal equilibrium, there is background blackbody radiation at that temperature.
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3.For the scattered light to be distinguishable from the background radiation, the photon's energy must be much greater than the mean energy of the blackbody spectrum (ℏν ≫ kT).
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Topics

Notable Defenders

Charles Bennettcontemporary

Charles Bennettcontemporary

Claude Shannoncontemporary

John D. Nortoncontemporary

John Earmancontemporary

Karl Poppercontemporary

MaroneycontemporaryMaroney 2009

Nortoncontemporary

Paul FeyerabendcontemporaryFeyerabend (1966)

PenrosecontemporaryPenrose (1970, Chapters V, VI)

PenrosecontemporaryPenrose (1970, Chapter VI)

Piechocinskacontemporary

PiechocinskacontemporaryPiechocinska (2000)

Roger PenrosecontemporaryPenrose 1970, Chapters V and VI, particularly VI.3

Roger Penrosecontemporary

Roger Penrosecontemporary

Rolf Landauercontemporary

Rolf Landauercontemporary

Rolf Landauercontemporary

ShizumecontemporaryShizume (1995)

TurgutcontemporaryTurgut 2009

Wojciech Zurekcontemporary

ZhangcontemporaryZhang and Zhang (1992)

Albert EinsteinmodernEinstein's fluctuation formula

Carnotmodern

Dennis Gabormodern

J. Willard Gibbsmodern

John von Neumannmodern

Joseph LiouvillemodernLiouville's Theorem

Kelvinmodern

Leo Szilardmodern

Leo SzilardmodernSzilard (1929)

Ludwig BoltzmannmodernH-theorem and Boltzmann entropy

Ludwig Boltzmannmodern

Léon Brillouinmodern

Connections

2 topics

Truth & Knowledge1 linked Perception1 linked

Related

A dissipative light-based measurement physically instantiates the memory-writing...A dissipative measurement that records the molecule's location constitutes a log...

Source

AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid

SEP: information-entropy

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Szilard's argument was developed further after Shannon identified that the measure p ln p had operational significance for information theory, suggestive of a deeper connection between entropy and information. To illustrate the idea further, both Gabor (1964) and Brillouin (1951) constructed specific models of dissipative measurement that involve shining a light into one side of the engine to see whether that side contains the molecule. The light is scattered if the molecule is on that side, but

Extraction notes

Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

Details

Bennett's 1982 analysis of Maxwell's Demon demonstrates that the demon's memory ...

For the scattered light to be distinguishable from the background radiation, the...

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If the system is in thermal equilibrium, there is background blackbody radiation...Landauer's principle establishes that any logically irreversible operation, incl...The energy of the required photon is greater than the energy gained from operati...The minimum thermodynamic cost of this irreversible measurement equals or exceed...To detect which side contains the molecule, light is shone into one side and sca...

Type: claim
Perspectives: 3 (2 for, 1 against)
Edits: 1 edit