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Area of Science:

  • Thermodynamics
  • Statistical Mechanics
  • Quantum Information

Background:

  • Thermodynamics traditionally posits that creating correlations requires work.
  • This principle suggests that impossible transformations remain impossible even with auxiliary systems.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of correlations in nonequilibrium thermodynamics of microscopic systems.
  • To determine if correlations can enable previously impossible thermodynamic transformations.

Main Methods:

  • Theoretical analysis of thermodynamic transformations involving auxiliary systems.
  • Quantification of correlations using mutual information.
  • Focus on single-shot processes in microscopic systems.

Main Results:

  • Contrary to intuition, creating correlations extends accessible states in microscopic systems.
  • Any transformation becomes possible if the nonequilibrium free energy decreases.
  • Minimal correlations (mutual information) and few auxiliary systems (≤3) suffice.

Conclusions:

  • Correlations can overcome traditional thermodynamic limitations in microscopic systems.
  • This opens possibilities for efficient work extraction from microscopic engines.
  • The findings challenge conventional understanding of thermodynamic constraints.