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A Note on Solid-State Maxwell Demon

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Abstract

Since 2002, at least two kinds of laboratory-testable, solid-state Maxwell demons have been proposed that utilize the electric field energy of an open-gap n-p junction and that seem to challenge the validity of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. In the present paper we present some arguments against the alleged functioning of such devices.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been partially supported by the Italian Space Agency under ASI Contract N∘ 1/015/07/0. The author is grateful to Prof. Daniel P. Sheehan, Dr. Assunta Tataranni and Dr. Gianpietro Summa for criticism and insightful discussions. The author is also indebted to the three anonymous reviewers for their criticism and suggestions that improved the presentation of this article.

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  1. Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133, Rome, Italy

    Germano D’Abramo

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  1. Germano D’Abramo
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Correspondence to Germano D’Abramo.

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D’Abramo, G. A Note on Solid-State Maxwell Demon. Found Phys 42, 369–376 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-011-9607-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-011-9607-7

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