The Pervasive Maxwell Demon
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2005
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Swarthmore College. Dept. of Physics & Astronomy
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Thesis (B.A.)
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Abstract
Today, we find an increasing interest in Brownian motors - theoretical "thermal
ratchets" that rectify random motion to do work. This interest stems not
only from possible applications to cellular transport mechanisms and nanoscale
mechanics but from the more intricate understanding of entropy and non-equilibrium
dynamics they offer. In an attempt to bring Brownian motors one step closer to
reality, the primary goal of this paper is to propose an experimental realization
of an (electronic) thermal ratchet and predict its behavior numerically; with a
secondary goal of exploring the practicality and properties of this ratchet and
putting this research in the context of existing thermal ratchet work. To these
ends, we present a general discussion of non-equilibrium dynamics and the stateof-
the-art in thermal ratchet research. Following this, we explain the electronic
ratchet, a diode and resistor in parallel where the diode rectifies the Nyquist
noise across the resistor, in detail. Finally, we determine that an experimental
electronic ratchet using off-the-shelf components can exhibit a measurable
voltage difference 14.5pV /0 K, which could confirm this effect experimentally.
We also show that this effect is independent of the Seebeck effect, meaning
that there are unlikely to be any other "antagonistic" thermoelectric effects to
muddle any experimental results.