Example: a 24-bit particle

Here we put the conclusions of section \ref{sec:net2} into practice.

Take two “particles”, represented by bit-strings (say 24 digits each). A bit corresponds here to the information-content of the particle, OR to the value of some binary thermodynamic variable.

Coarsen the particles by various amounts to reflect depth of measurement, so that the same particles are represented by 12, 8, 6, 4, 3 and two bits each¹. How does the “effort” of measurement compare with the entropy change / work accessible?

The particles

Here is a list of particle A and particle B seen at decreasing resolution.²

24-bit
0011 1010 1000 1110 0110 1011
0011 1010 1000 1110 1110 1011

12-bit
01 01 00 11 01 01
01 01 00 11 10 11

8-bit
01 00 10 11
01 00 11 11

6-bit
01 01 11
01 01 11

4-bit
00 11
00 11

3-bit
0 1 1
0 1 1

2-bit
01
01

Inspection

We inspect the particles and note the difference between them. The energy necessary to do this is listed.

To do:

• Decide on an experimental context.

• Make a model which can extract work from the difference.

• Rather than increasing “resolution” could think about increasing compression – e.g. dynamic dictionary constructions.