Experimentally achieving minimal dissipation via thermodynamically optimal transport

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Oikawa, Shingo, Nakayama, Yohei, Ito, Sosuke, Sagawa, Takahiro, Toyabe, Shoichi
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Oikawa, Shingo
Nakayama, Yohei
Ito, Sosuke
Sagawa, Takahiro
Toyabe, Shoichi
author_facet Oikawa, Shingo
Nakayama, Yohei
Ito, Sosuke
Sagawa, Takahiro
Toyabe, Shoichi
contents Optimal transport theory, originally developed in the 18th century for civil engineering, has since become a powerful optimization framework across disciplines, from generative AI to cell biology. In physics, it has recently been shown to set fundamental bounds on thermodynamic dissipation in finite-time processes. This extends beyond the conventional second law, which guarantees zero dissipation only in the quasi-static limit and cannot characterize the inevitable dissipation in finite-time processes. Here, we experimentally realize thermodynamically optimal transport using optically trapped microparticles, achieving minimal dissipation within a finite time. As an application to information processing, we implement the optimal finite-time protocol for information erasure, confirming that the excess dissipation beyond the Landauer bound is exactly determined by the Wasserstein distance - a fundamental geometric quantity in optimal transport theory. Furthermore, our experiment achieves the bound governing the trade-off between speed, dissipation, and accuracy in information erasure. To enable precise control of microparticles, we develop scanning optical tweezers capable of generating arbitrary potential profiles. Our work establishes an experimental approach for optimizing stochastic thermodynamic processes. Since minimizing dissipation directly reduces energy consumption, these results provide guiding principles for designing high-speed, low-energy information processing.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_01200
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Experimentally achieving minimal dissipation via thermodynamically optimal transport
Oikawa, Shingo
Nakayama, Yohei
Ito, Sosuke
Sagawa, Takahiro
Toyabe, Shoichi
Statistical Mechanics
Optimal transport theory, originally developed in the 18th century for civil engineering, has since become a powerful optimization framework across disciplines, from generative AI to cell biology. In physics, it has recently been shown to set fundamental bounds on thermodynamic dissipation in finite-time processes. This extends beyond the conventional second law, which guarantees zero dissipation only in the quasi-static limit and cannot characterize the inevitable dissipation in finite-time processes. Here, we experimentally realize thermodynamically optimal transport using optically trapped microparticles, achieving minimal dissipation within a finite time. As an application to information processing, we implement the optimal finite-time protocol for information erasure, confirming that the excess dissipation beyond the Landauer bound is exactly determined by the Wasserstein distance - a fundamental geometric quantity in optimal transport theory. Furthermore, our experiment achieves the bound governing the trade-off between speed, dissipation, and accuracy in information erasure. To enable precise control of microparticles, we develop scanning optical tweezers capable of generating arbitrary potential profiles. Our work establishes an experimental approach for optimizing stochastic thermodynamic processes. Since minimizing dissipation directly reduces energy consumption, these results provide guiding principles for designing high-speed, low-energy information processing.
title Experimentally achieving minimal dissipation via thermodynamically optimal transport
topic Statistical Mechanics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.01200