Cooling classical particles with a microcanonical Szilard engine

TL;DR

This paper explores how a microcanonical Szilard engine can extract energy from a single heat bath without measurements, highlighting a novel approach to thermodynamic cycles under specific initial conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a microcanonical initial condition for the Szilard engine, enabling energy extraction without measurement, expanding the understanding of thermodynamic processes.

Findings

Energy can be extracted from a single heat bath using a microcanonical ensemble.

Measurement is not necessary in the proposed protocol.

The approach has limitations and potential for further extensions.

Abstract

We discuss the possibility of extraction of energy from a single heat bath in a cyclic process, under some special initial conditions. We give an explicit example in which a system initially prepared in a microcanonical ensemble, is able to perform such operation. The example is similar to the Szilard engine, but the microcanonical initial condition allows us to design a protocol where measurement is not necessary. We also discuss the limitations and possible extensions of this microcanonical Szilard engine.