Optimal tuning of a confined Brownian information engine

TL;DR

This paper develops an analytic model for a Brownian information engine, revealing that maximum work occurs at infinite cycle time while maximum power occurs at zero cycle time.

Contribution

It introduces a formalism to determine the steady state of a Brownian information engine for any cycle time, a problem previously difficult to solve.

Findings

Maximum work at infinite cycle time

Maximum power at zero cycle time

Analytic steady state distribution for any cycle time

Abstract

A Brownian information engine is a device extracting a mechanical work from a single heat bath by exploiting the information on the state of a Brownian particle immersed in the bath. As for engines, it is important to find the optimal operating condition that yields the maximum extracted work or power. The optimal condition for a Brownian information engine with a finite cycle time $\tau$ has been rarely studied because of the difficulty in finding the nonequilibrium steady state. In this study, we introduce a model for the Brownian information engine and develop an analytic formalism for its steady state distribution for any $\tau$. We find that the extracted work per engine cycle is maximum when $\tau$ approaches infinity, while the power is maximum when $\tau$ approaches zero.