Maxwell's Demon & Quantum Thermodynamics

Szilard engine · Landauer's principle · information = entropy

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Thermodynamics

Left avg KE:-
Right avg KE:-
ΔT (hot−cold):-
Demon erases:0
Info cost (kT·ln2):0.00
Landauer's Principle (1961):
Erasing 1 bit dissipates ≥ kT·ln2 of heat.

The demon must remember each particle's side before sorting — and erasing that memory costs exactly the entropy it appeared to create.

Szilard (1929): One-particle engine extracts kT·ln2 per cycle, paid by measurement.