One-particle engine with a porous piston

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel one-particle engine with a porous piston that operates without needing particle position information or piston removal, using a reset mechanism acting as a second reservoir to sustain work output.

Contribution

It presents a new variation of the Szilard engine that simplifies operation by eliminating the need for information-based control and piston removal, while incorporating a reset mechanism as an energy-dissipating reservoir.

Findings

Engine operates with a single thermal reservoir.

Eliminates the need for particle position measurement.

Uses a reset mechanism as a second reservoir.

Abstract

We propose a variation of the classical Szilard engine that uses a porous piston. Such an engine requires neither information about the position of the particle, nor the removal and subsequent insertion of the piston when resetting the engine to continue doing work by lifting a mass against a gravitational field. Though the engine operates in contact with a single thermal reservoir, the reset mechanism acts as a second reservoir, dissipating energy when a mass that has been lifted by the engine is removed to initiate a new operation cycle.