Re: [Fis] Entropy, Information and Quantum Coherence

Dear Michael Devereux and Colleagues,

    Let me have a few more says on the Maxwell's demon for its favor, which
Michael Devereux might have already implied.

   Information basically assumes the contrast between before and after the
act of measurement or experiencing.. Then, a question arises as to who or
what is the measuring agency in the first place. In physics, there have been
at least two different classes of the measuring agency. One is a Boltzmann's
molecule which would lose or erase the memory of the past collisions with
the others except for the latest ones through constant overwriting on it.
One more is a Planck's quantum which keeps the persistent memory of the
distinction between the inside and the outside of the quantum.

   If the ideal gas consisting of Boltzmann's molecules is focused, the
activity of making distinctions thanks to measurement internal to the gas
would precipitate the probability distribution and the statistical
uncertainty in the end. The act of making a binary distinction, for
instance, can legitimately be associated with the gain of thermodynamic
entropy by the measuring agency and the loss of the equal amount offset by
the measured. The Maxwell's demon is legitimately exorcised from the
Boltzmann's ideal gas.

   In contrast, measurement internal to a Planck's quantum does not have
direct relevance to thermodynamic entropy since the quantum is a coherent
superposition of both the retarded and the advanced material wave after de
Broglie and Schroedinger, internally. There is no likelihood of incoherence
out of measurement internal to the quantum, while measurement external to
each quantum undoubtedly invites the standard Copenhagen uncertainty.

   Now, just for the sake of argument, imagine a bit strange encounter
between a Planck's quantum and Boltzmann's molecules. The present encounter
might raise a likelihood that Boltzmann's molecules would view a Planck's
quantum quite cool because of the internal coherency in the latter if other
conditions are met. Boltzmann's molecules may thus serve as a working medium
sustaining a heat engine operating between different temperatures. This may
give another chance for the Maxwell's demon once exorcised from the kingdom
of physics to resurrect. Although it is certainly untenable to conceive of
the net act of making distinctions or squeezing useful work out of thermal
equilibrium alone, the theoretical imposition of the equilibrium, while easy
to think of, is an endeavor too stifling for the agency of whatever type to
go along with.

   Cheers,
   Koichiro
Received on Sun Jun 6 16:58:21 2004