Maxwell's demon thought experiment

E14943

Maxwell's demon thought experiment is a famous conceptual scenario in thermodynamics that imagines an intelligent being seemingly violating the second law by sorting fast and slow gas molecules without expending energy.

AI illustration

How this image was made

AI-generated illustration of Maxwell's demon thought experiment

This AI-generated illustration was produced by black-forest-labs/FLUX.2-dev (1024x1024) from a prompt written by openai/gpt-oss-120b from the entity's label + description.

Prompt

Generate an image of Maxwell's demon thought experiment (Maxwell's demon thought experiment is a famous conceptual scenario in thermodynamics that imagines an intelligent being seemingly violating the second law by sorting fast and slow gas molecules without expending energy.)

All labels observed (6)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf concept in statistical mechanics ⓘ
thermodynamics thought experiment ⓘ
thought experiment ⓘ
aimsToIllustrate apparent violation of the second law of thermodynamics ⓘ
apparentEffect decrease of entropy in an isolated system ⓘ
category history of thermodynamics ⓘ
paradox in physics ⓘ
challenges second law of thermodynamics ⓘ
consequence one side of the box heats up and the other cools down ⓘ
coreIdea an intelligent being can sort fast and slow gas molecules without apparent energy cost ⓘ
describedIn Theory of Heat ⓘ
letter to Peter Guthrie Tait ⓘ
describedInYear 1871 ⓘ
features a hypothetical intelligent being called a demon ⓘ
a partitioned box of gas ⓘ
a small trapdoor between compartments ⓘ
field physics ⓘ
statistical mechanics ⓘ
thermodynamics ⓘ
hasAlternativeName Maxwell demon ⓘ
Maxwell's demon paradox ⓘ
influenced modern information thermodynamics ⓘ
quantum thermodynamics discussions ⓘ
inspiredWorkBy Charles H. Bennett ⓘ
Leo Szilard ⓘ
Rolf Landauer ⓘ
involves entropy ⓘ
gas molecules ⓘ
information ⓘ
temperature differences ⓘ
mechanism demon opens and closes a door to separate fast and slow molecules ⓘ
proposalYear 1867 ⓘ
proposedBy James Clerk Maxwell ⓘ
relatedConcept Boltzmann entropy ⓘ
Landauer's principle ⓘ
Shannon information ⓘ
linked to: Shannon entropy

Szilard engine ⓘ
information entropy ⓘ
resolutionIdea entropy increase is associated with memory reset of the demon ⓘ
information acquisition and erasure have thermodynamic costs ⓘ
status does not actually violate the second law when information costs are included ⓘ
teaches importance of microscopic fluctuations in thermodynamics ⓘ
role of measurement in physical laws ⓘ
usedToDiscuss foundations of the second law of thermodynamics ⓘ
limits of computation ⓘ
relationship between information and thermodynamics ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (6)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

James Clerk Maxwell → knownFor → Maxwell's demon thought experiment ⓘ
Maxwell's demon thought experiment → relatedConcept → Szilard engine ⓘ
linked to: Maxwell's demon thought experiment
Maxwell's demon thought experiment → hasAlternativeName → Maxwell demon ⓘ
linked to: Maxwell's demon thought experiment
Maxwell's demon thought experiment → hasAlternativeName → Maxwell's demon paradox ⓘ
linked to: Maxwell's demon thought experiment
Landauer's principle → usedInArgument → Maxwell's demon resolution ⓘ
linked to: Maxwell's demon thought experiment
Bennett's logical reversibility → connectedTo → Maxwell's demon thought experiments ⓘ
linked to: Maxwell's demon thought experiment