Information-to-work conversion by Maxwell's demon in a superconducting circuit quantum electrodynamical system

Nat Commun. 2018 Mar 29;9(1):1291. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-03686-y.

Abstract

Information thermodynamics bridges information theory and statistical physics by connecting information content and entropy production through measurement and feedback control. Maxwell's demon is a hypothetical character that uses information about a system to reduce its entropy. Here we realize a Maxwell's demon acting on a superconducting quantum circuit. We implement quantum non-demolition projective measurement and feedback operation of a qubit and verify the generalized integral fluctuation theorem. We also evaluate the conversion efficiency from information gain to work in the feedback protocol. Our experiment constitutes a step toward experimental studies of quantum information thermodynamics in artificially made quantum machines.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't