Fascination with the demon persisted throughout the development of statistical and quantum physics, information theory, and computer scienceand linkages have been established between maxwells demon and each of these disciplines. Because its primary literature is scattered throughout research journals, semipopular books, monographs on information theory and a variety of specialty books, maxwells demon is somewhat familiar to many but well known only to very few. Buy maxwells demon 2 entropy, classical and quantum information, computing on. Maxwells demon was born in 1867 and still thrives in modern physics.
The most successful exorcism of maxwells demon is smoluchowskis 1912 observation that thermal fluctuations would likely disrupt the operation of any molecularscale demonic machine. Quantum dynamics, entropy and quantum versions of maxwell. Maxwells demon in its many forms has captured the imagination of both scientists and the general public. Demon in the title refers to an idea in physics called maxwells demon who is a tiny sentient entity who in theory could reverse the direction of entropy if he could open or close a door, keeping hot molecules on one side and letting cold ones escape to the other. Maxwells demon was an instant source of fascination and led to many important results, including the development of a thermodynamic theory of information. Here, we present the history of the demon and a variety of interesting consequences of the second law of thermodynamics, mainly in quantum mechanics, but also in the theory of gravity. He realized that the extra work that can be extracted from the demons action has a cost that. What maxwells demon does is allow heat to flow backwards reverse the arrow of time, if you like by using information about the molecular speed.
A classic source for exploring the connections between information theory and physics, this text is geared toward upperlevel undergraduates and graduate students. Topics include brownian motion, thermal noise, information theory, entropy, and the authors personal view of maxwells demon. Maxwells demon is a thought experiment created by the physicist james clerk maxwell in. Apparently, though, it was not maxwell who called it a demon. Because its primary literature is scattered throughout research journals, semipopular books, monographs on information theory and a variety of specialty books, maxwell s demon is somewhat familiar to many but well known only to very few. Fascination with the demon persisted throughout the development of statistical and quantum physics, information theory, and computer science, and links have been established between maxwell s demon and each of these disciplines.
Weinberg on the decrease of entropy in a thermodynamic system by the intervention of intelligent beings l. About 120 years ago, james clerk maxwell introduced his now legendary hypo. As the dictionary entry above shows, maxwells demon is no more than a simple idea. He plays important roles in clarifying the connections between two theories. And it has a very tantalizing name, maxwells demon. Entropy, information, computing princeton series in. The author, a giant of 20thcentury mathematics, applies the principles of information theory to a variety of issues, including maxwells demon, thermodynamics, and measurement problems. Maxwells demon and the golden apple will appeal to leaders of multinational corporations and government. Try searching on jstor for other items related to this book. This book gives a concise overview of maxwells demon and its impact on the.
Essentially, this law states that heat does not naturally flow from a cool body to a warmer. Entropy, information, computing makes the key literature easily available and helps with the crossfertilisation of ideas in different disciplines. Entropy, classical and quantum information, computing retains many of the seminal papers that appeared in the first edition, including the original thoughts of james clerk maxwell and william thomson. Maxwells demon, hypothetical intelligent being or a functionally equivalent device capable of detecting and reacting to the motions of individual molecules. Maxwells demon, a hypothetical being that appears to violate the second law of thermodynamics, has been widely studied since it was first proposed in 1867 by. Information theory is a branch of applied mathematics, electrical engineering, and computer science which originated primarily in the work of claude shannon and his colleagues in the 1940s. Interweaving his theory of global disorder with issues on the world stagecoupled with a disquisition on board games and the cell phone app angry birdsschwellers thesis yields astonishing insights. We then computed the entropy decrease created by this demon using the refrigerated. The classical paradox of maxwells demon has been around for a century and a half and has had a strong influence on the study of the second law of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics in general in addition to the area of quantum dynamics and information theory.
Entropy in thermodynamics and information theory wikipedia. Fascination with the demon persisted throughout the development of statistical and quantum physics, information theory, and computer science and linkages have been established. A later tradition sought to exorcise maxwells demon by assessing the entropic cost of the demons processing of information. The experiment first appeared in an exchange of letters between maxwell and peter tait around 1867. Fascination with the demon persisted throughout the development of statistical and quantum physics, information theory and computer science, and links have been established between maxwells demon and each of these disciplines. Its impact has been crucial to the success of the voyager missions to deep space. If the supernatural demon knows which half of the box the particle is in equivalent to a. Leff 2016, hardcover at the best online prices at ebay. Yet it has challenged some of the best scientific minds, and its extensive literature spans thermodynamics, statistical physics, information theory, cybernetics, the limits of computing, biological sciences and the history and philosophy of science. Over years ago, james clerk maxwell introduced his hypothetical demon as a challenge to the scope of the second law of thermodynamics. Entropy, information, computing by harvey leff, in like new condition. Fascination with the demon persisted throughout the development of statistical and quantum physics, information theory, and computer science, and links have been established between maxwells demon and each of these disciplines. And this is the same maxwell famous for maxwells equation, so he obviously dealt with a lot of things. All these guys, you know, they all meddle in everything.
An annotated chronological bibliography provides a colourful perspective on maxwells demon and a rich trail of citations for further study. Maxwells demon 2 entropy, classical and quantum information, computing. This was presented in his 1871 book theory of heat and is as follows. Information theory studies the quantification, storage, and communication of information. By detecting the positions and velocities of gas molecules in two neighboring chambers and using that information to time the opening and closing of a trapdoor that separates them, a tiny, intelligent being could, in theory, sort molecules by velocity. The author, a giant of twentiethcentury mathematics, applies the principles of information theory to a variety of issues, including maxwells demon, thermodynamics, and measurement problems.
About 120 years ago, james clerk maxwell introduced his now legendary. Concluding chapters explore the associations between information theory, the uncertainty principle, and physical limits of observation, in addition to problems related to computing, organizing information, and inevitable errors. In letters from 1867 and 1871 and then in his 1871 theory of heat, james clerk maxwell described a tiny demon who could reverse the second law of thermodynamics. Entropy, information, computing in 1990, maxwells demon has been the subject of renewed and increased interest by numerous researchers in the fields mentioned above. Fascination with the demon persisted throughout the development of statistical and quantum physics, information theory, and computer scienceand linkages have been established between maxwell s demon and each of these disciplines. It deals with concepts such as information, entropy, information transmission, data. Many new ideas and paradigms have been introduced as a result of this paradox. Maxwells demon is a thought experiment created by the physicist james clerk maxwell in 1867 in which he suggested how the second law of thermodynamics might hypothetically be violated. About 120 years ago, james clerk maxwell introduced his now legendary hypothetical demon as a challenge to the integrity of the second law of thermodynamics. It was originally proposed by claude shannon in 1948 to find fundamental limits on signal processing and communication operations such as data compression, in a landmark paper titled a mathematical theory of communication. It was imagined by james clerk maxwell in 1871, to illustrate the possibility of violating the second law of thermodynamics. Maxwells demon was the invention of scottish mathematician and theoretical physicist james clerk maxwell, who wanted to contradict the second law of.
Well, it turns out that living organisms are packed full of maxwell demons. Maxwells demon news newspapers books scholar jstor march 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message. A discussion of the negentropy principle of information introduces brillouins renowned examination of maxwells demon. The simplest exorcism of maxwells demon no information needed. The book is named for james clerk maxwells little imaginary genius, who could make your latte boil out of your travel mug given a chance. Discarding it leads to immediate increase in entropy but the demon cannot. Exorcism of maxwells demon university of pittsburgh. In his 1867 thought experiment, maxwells demon, james clerk maxwell. But a particularly important insight came in the 1960s from the ibm researcher rolf landauer. It was later unveiled to the public in maxwell s book on thermodynamics titled theory of heat, published in 1872. Its a thought experiment which demonstrates that the concept of entropy from information theory and the concept of entropy from thermodynamics are really about the same thing, and connected in a very physical way.