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Researchers shed new light on the link between quantum theory and thermodynamics
- The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy never spontaneously decreases, leading to a long-running debate since the 19th century about Maxwell’s Demon.
- Now, researchers at Nagoya University and the Slovak Academy of Sciences suggest that it is possible to design quantum processes to comply with thermodynamics.
- Their groundbreaking study, published in npj Quantum Information, opens new possibilities for quantum computing, nanoscale engines and fundamental physics.
- Previous work suggested that the cost of measurement and memory erasure always restores thermodynamic balance.
- The new study takes a broader approach by deriving general balance equations that apply to any measurement and feedback process, including non-ideal ones.
- Under certain conditions from their mathematical model, the extracted work exceeded the work expended, even when accounting for all costs.
- Despite the theoretical vulnerabilities, it is possible to design any quantum process so that it complies with the second law.
- Quantum mechanics and the second law of thermodynamics are logically independent, but processes can always be designed to uphold these constraints.
- This research provides a foundation for new quantum technologies such as quantum computing and more efficient energy conversion at the nanoscale.
- The delicate balance between quantum mechanics and thermodynamics will shape the future of fundamental physics and technological innovation.
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