[Fis] Japanese physicists convert information into energy

[John Collier]

Folks,

This is a step further than the experiment I posted on previously 
(mentioned in the article) that used information to do work. Here 
information is converted into energy. The story is at
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/428670/entangled-particles-break-classical-law-of-thermodynamics-say-physicists/

You can follow the references to the original paper. It is at 
http://arxiv.org/abs/1207.6872

 From the news article:
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Imagine two boxes of particles with trap door between them. You want 
to use the trap door to guide the faster particles into one box and 
the slower particles into the other. In a classical experiment you 
would have to measure the particles in both boxes to do this experiment.

But things are different if the particles in one box are entangled 
with the particles in the other. In that case, measurements on the 
particles in one box give you info about both sets of particles.

In essence, you're getting information for nothing. And since you can 
convert that information into energy, there is clear advantage when 
entanglement plays a role.

That's hugely significant. It means that the laws of thermodynamics 
depend not only on classical phenomenon and information but on 
quantum effects  too. The breakthrough that Funo and co make is to 
extend the theory to take this into account. "We show that entangled 
states can be used to extract thermodynamic work beyond classical 
correlation," they say.

That will have important implications for all kinds of phenomenon, 
from black holes and astrobiology to quantum chemistry and nanomachines.

Now the race will be on to see who can measure it first.
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The result is not surprising, if you accept that information can 
exist as a purely physical phenomenon, and also accept quantum 
information (see work by Seth Lloyd, e.g). Both assumptions are 
common in basic physics. If you think that information must have 
meaning, or that it must at least be representational, you are going 
to have trouble understanding this work.

Cheers,
John

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Professor John Collier                                     collierj at ukzn.ac.za
Philosophy and Ethics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041 South Africa
T: +27 (31) 260 3248 / 260 2292       F: +27 (31) 260 3031
Http://web.ncf.ca/collier