Maximizing power and velocity of an information engine

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2023356118
• Publication Date: 2021-05-10T21:16:24Z
• Authors: Tushar K. Saha; Joseph N. E. Lucero; Jannik Ehrich; David A. Sivak; John Bechhoefer
• Keywords: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech); 0103 physical sciences; FOS: Physical sciences; 01 natural sciences; 7. Clean energy; Condensed Matter - Statistical Mechanics

Significance

Around 100 y ago, Szilard imagined how to raise a weight without doing any work, just using the information gained by “looking” at a single gas molecule bouncing inside a box. Here, we designed an engine that stores energy by raising a bead against gravity, driven purely by information about the bead position. No work is done directly on the bead; instead, all dissipation occurs in the measuring apparatus. By choosing the right size of bead and through careful design, we improved information-engine performance by more than a factor of 10 over the best previous designs. We achieve a maximum velocity of 190 μm/s and maximum power of

1

0

3

k

B

T / s

, numbers comparable to those measured in microorganisms.