Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Maxwell's Equation Of Electromagnetism01:29

Maxwell's Equation Of Electromagnetism

3.3K
James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) was one of the major contributors to physics in the nineteenth century. Although he died young, he made major contributions to the development of the kinetic theory of gases, to the understanding of color vision, and to understanding the nature of Saturn's rings. He is probably best known for having combined existing knowledge on the laws of electricity and magnetism with his insights into a complete overarching electromagnetic theory, which is...
3.3K
Differential Form of Maxwell's Equations01:17

Differential Form of Maxwell's Equations

558
James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) was one of the significant contributors to physics in the nineteenth century. He is probably best known for having combined existing knowledge of the laws of electricity and the laws of magnetism with his insights to form a complete overarching electromagnetic theory, represented by Maxwell's equations. The four basic laws of electricity and magnetism were discovered experimentally through the work of physicists such as Oersted, Coulomb, Gauss, and...
558
Symmetry in Maxwell's Equations01:28

Symmetry in Maxwell's Equations

3.5K
Once the fields have been calculated using Maxwell's four equations, the Lorentz force equation gives the force that the fields exert on a charged particle moving with a certain velocity. The Lorentz force equation combines the force of the electric field and of the magnetic field on the moving charge. Maxwell's equations and the Lorentz force law together encompass all the laws of electricity and magnetism. The symmetry that Maxwell introduced into his mathematical framework may not be...
3.5K
Maxwell's Thermodynamic Relations01:23

Maxwell's Thermodynamic Relations

3.1K
Maxwell's thermodynamic relations are very useful in solving problems in thermodynamics. Each of Maxwell's relations relates a partial differential between quantities that can be hard to measure experimentally to a partial differential between quantities that can be easily measured. These relations are a set of equations derivable from the symmetry of the second derivatives and the thermodynamic potentials.
All thermodynamic potentials are exact differentials. Therefore, their second-order...
3.1K
Ampere-Maxwell's Law: Problem-Solving01:17

Ampere-Maxwell's Law: Problem-Solving

700
A parallel-plate capacitor with capacitance C, whose plates have area A and separation distance d, is connected to a resistor R and a battery of voltage V. The current starts to flow at t = 0. What is the displacement current between the capacitor plates at time t? From the properties of the capacitor, what is the corresponding real current?
To solve the problem, we can use the equations from the analysis of an RC circuit and Maxwell's version of Ampère's law.
For the first part of...
700
Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution: Problem Solving01:20

Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution: Problem Solving

1.6K
Individual molecules in a gas move in random directions, but a gas containing numerous molecules has a predictable distribution of molecular speeds, which is known as the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, f(v).
This distribution function f(v) is defined by saying that the expected number N (v1,v2) of particles with speeds between v1 and v2 is given by
1.6K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Determining the Effective DNA Charge Density from Nanopore Translocation Dynamics.

Nano letters·2026
Same author

Thermodynamic circuits: Association of thermoelectric converters in stationary nonequilibrium.

Physical review. E·2025
Same author

Thermodynamic circuits: Modeling chemical reaction networks with nonequilibrium conductance matrices.

Physical review. E·2025
Same author

Temperature-dependent funnel-like DNA folding landscapes.

Nucleic acids research·2025
Same author

Three Optima of Thermoelectric Conversion: Insights from the Constant Property Model.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2025
Same author

DNA calorimetric force spectroscopy at single base pair resolution.

Nature communications·2025
Same journal

Research on a Regional Availability Evaluation Model for Road-Area High-Entropy Energy Based on Synergy Factors.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same journal

Atmospheric Turbulence Channel Modeling and Performance Analysis of a CO-ZP-OFDM Coherent Optical Communication System for UAV Air-to-Ground Scenarios.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same journal

Information Geometry and Asymptotic Theory for SMML Estimators.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same journal

Correlation Entropy and Power-Law Kinetics.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same journal

Research on the Contagion of Systemic Financial Risk Under the Impact of Climate Risks-From the Perspective of Complex Networks and Machine Learning.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same journal

The Statistical-Mechanical Meaning of the Wave Function of Quantum Mechanics.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 9, 2025

Author Spotlight: Simulation and Analysis of the Temperature Rise of Ring Main Unit Equipment
04:35

Author Spotlight: Simulation and Analysis of the Temperature Rise of Ring Main Unit Equipment

Published on: July 5, 2024

2.0K

N-States Continuous Maxwell Demon.

Paul Raux1,2, Felix Ritort3,4

  • 1Université Paris Cité, CNRS, UMR 8236-LIED, 75013 Paris, France.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)
|February 25, 2023
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study generalizes the continuous Maxwell demon to N states, enabling unbounded work extraction from information. The findings confirm the second law of thermodynamics for information-to-work conversion processes.

Keywords:
Maxwell demoncorrelated measurementsinformation-to-work conversion

More Related Videos

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators
09:23

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators

Published on: May 30, 2014

14.6K
Utilizing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Study the Human Neuromuscular System
12:19

Utilizing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Study the Human Neuromuscular System

Published on: January 20, 2012

27.0K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Aug 9, 2025

Author Spotlight: Simulation and Analysis of the Temperature Rise of Ring Main Unit Equipment
04:35

Author Spotlight: Simulation and Analysis of the Temperature Rise of Ring Main Unit Equipment

Published on: July 5, 2024

2.0K
Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators
09:23

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators

Published on: May 30, 2014

14.6K
Utilizing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Study the Human Neuromuscular System
12:19

Utilizing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Study the Human Neuromuscular System

Published on: January 20, 2012

27.0K

Area of Science:

  • Thermodynamics of Information
  • Statistical Mechanics
  • Information Theory

Background:

  • Maxwell's demon and Szilard's engine are foundational thought experiments in information thermodynamics.
  • The continuous Maxwell demon (CMD) model allows for unbounded work extraction via repeated measurements in a two-state system.
  • Existing CMD models face limitations in scalability and generalized application.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To generalize the continuous Maxwell demon (CMD) model to an N-state system.
  • To derive analytical expressions for work extraction and information content in the N-state CMD.
  • To investigate the thermodynamic implications and validity of the second law for generalized information-to-work conversion.

Main Methods:

  • Development of a generalized N-state continuous Maxwell demon model.
  • Derivation of analytical expressions for average work extracted and information content.
  • Analysis of system dynamics under uniform transition rates and specific N=3 cases.

Main Results:

  • Generalized analytical expressions for work and information content in N-state CMD.
  • Demonstration that the N-state CMD fulfills the second law inequality for information-to-work conversion.
  • Unbounded work extraction is achievable in the N-state system, proportional to information storage.

Conclusions:

  • The N-state CMD provides a scalable framework for information-to-work conversion.
  • The study validates the fundamental principles of information thermodynamics in a generalized context.
  • This work extends the understanding of the interplay between information, work, and entropy in complex systems.