INFORMATION-POWERED ENGINES IBD

Sinopse

This book presents the experimental development of an information-powered engine inspired by the famous thought experiment, MaxwellâÇÖs demon, to understand its potential to produce energy for practical purposes. The development of an engine based on MaxwellâÇÖs demon wasáfor a long timeáinconceivable, but technologicaláadvancesáhave led to novel investigations into theoretical and practical applications.áThe built information engine consists of a micron-sized glass bead trapped in a tightly focused laser beam. It rectifies the beadâÇÖs Brownian motion by controlling the laserâÇÖs position and generates a unidirectional motion against gravity without doing any work, thus converting thermal heat into stored gravitational potential energy. A theoretical model based on a spring-mass system describes the engineâÇÖsádynamics andáwas then used to find optimum parameters to improve the engineâÇÖs performance.áExperimentally implementing these optimization strategies led to engine output powers comparable to those measured in biological motors.áThis book also highlights performance improvements made in the presence of measurement noise and presents important guiding principles to design information engines to operate in non-equilibrium environments. By focusing on practical applications, the book overall aims to broaden the scope ofáinformation-engine investigations.á