On the relation between information and power in stochastic thermodynamic engines

TL;DR

This paper explores the fundamental relationship between information and work in stochastic thermodynamic engines, emphasizing how continuous measurement and feedback control influence entropy and the second law.

Contribution

It extends previous work by analyzing overdamped particles under continuous feedback control, linking information processing with thermodynamic efficiency in a general setting.

Findings

Quantitative relationship between information and work in feedback-controlled engines

Demonstrates how continuous measurements affect entropy reduction

Provides generalized second law formulations involving information

Abstract

The common saying, that information is power, takes a rigorous form in stochastic thermodynamics, where a quantitative equivalence between the two helps explain the paradox of Maxwell's demon in its ability to reduce entropy. In the present paper, we build on earlier work on the interplay between the relative cost and benefits of information in producing work in cyclic operation of thermodynamic engines (by Sandberg etal. 2014). Specifically, we study the general case of overdamped particles in a time-varying potential (control action) in feedback that utilizes continuous measurements (nonlinear filtering) of a thermodynamic ensemble, to produce suitable adaptations of the second law of thermodynamics that involve information.