Quantum Szilard Engine

Abstract

The Szilard engine, which is evocative of Maxwell’s demon, offers an alluring method of transforming information into energy while appearing to go against the second Law of thermodynamics’s basic tenets. Originally designed as a conventional thought experiment, Zurek later developed it and added a quantized treatment to the framework. This thesis explores the quantum Szilard engine, an innovative and beautiful concept that replaces the conventional rigid box (infinite potential well) with a harmonic potential. By using this alternate strategy, the scope of this model is greatly widened, allowing for a thorough analysis of its guiding principles and behaviors. The achievement of analytic calculations of the quantum Szilard engine is a noteworthy aspect of this research