Researchers find quantum 'Maxwell's demon' may give up information to extract work

Thermodynamics is one of the most human of scientific enterprises, according to Kater Murch, associate professor of physics in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

"It has to do with our fascination of fire and our laziness," he said. "How can we get fire"—or heat—"to do work for us?"
Now, Murch and colleagues have taken that most human enterprise down to the intangible quantum scale—that ofultra low temperatures and microscopic systems—and discovered that, as in the macroscopic world, it is possible to use information to extract work.

There is a catch, though: Some information may be lost in the process.

"We've experimentally confirmed the connection between information in the classical case and the quantum case," Murch said, "and we're seeing this new effect of information loss."

The results were published in the July 20 issue of Physical Review Letters.