Dresden 2026 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 21: Stochastic Thermodynamics

DY 21.2: Vortrag

Dienstag, 10. März 2026, 09:45–10:00, ZEU/0114

Between heat engine and information engine, characteristics of the entropy production rate in a Brownian ratchet. — Adrien Meynard, Marc Lagoin, Caroline Crauste-Thibierge, and •Antoine Naert — Univ Lyon, Ens de Lyon, Univ Claude Bernard, CNRS, Laboratoire de Physique, F-69342 Lyon, France

A two-state device such as a Brownian ratchet can be regarded as a heat engine or an information engine. Our experiment, at the centimeter scale, gives access to long time series of all observables of interest, resolved in time. These are the heat flux q₁(t) supplied by the hot (athermal) bath, at an (effective) temperature kT₁, and the work produced per unit time ẇ(t).

Taking advantage of the discreet operation of such 1-bit elementary information device, an example of a Maxwell’s demon, we can measure the rate of entropy production. We infer a comprehensive characterization of the rate of entropy produced by this device, in the Boltzmann sense. Our findings are compatible with a Poisson point process.

In steady state operation, this entropy is to be released as heat into the surrounding, at ambient temperature k_BT₂. (Note that q₂(t) is distinct from the various losses.) The heat over temperature ratios of the exchanges with the hot and cold baths are of the same order of magnitude:

We confirm that, within the limit of experimental uncertainties, entropy is conserved in a lossless heat engine, just like energy is.

Keywords: thermodynamics; information; Maxwell's demon