Role of partition in work extraction from multi-particle Szilard Engine

TL;DR

This paper analytically investigates work extraction in a multi-particle Szilard engine with a biased partition placement, revealing symmetry in work output and saturation behavior as particle number increases.

Contribution

Introduces a novel analytical approach considering arbitrary partition placement, highlighting optimal position and saturation effects in multi-particle engines.

Findings

Work extraction is symmetric around the midpoint partition position.

Work output saturates as the number of particles increases.

Maximum work is achieved when the partition is placed in the middle.

Abstract

In this work we have calculated analytically the work extraction in multi-particle Szilard engine. Unlike the previous studies, here we have introduced the biasing in the measurement procedure by inserting the partition at an arbitrary distance from the boundary. We found the work extraction to be symmetric with respect to a position- which is half way between the boundary walls. The work extraction is also calculated as a function of number of particles and it shows to saturate to a certain value for large number of particles. We find that work extraction can be made larger for multi-particle engine when the partition is inserted in the middle.