Maxwell's Demon is at the heart of the interrelation between quantum information processing and thermodynamics. In this thought experiment, a demon generates a temperature gradient between two thermal baths initially at equilibrium by gaining information at the single-particle level and applying classical feed-forward operations, allowing for the extraction of work. Here we implement a photonic version of Maxwell's Demon with active feed-forward in a fibre-based system using ultrafast optical switches. We experimentally show that, if correlations exist between the two thermal baths, the Demon can generate a temperature difference over an order of magnitude larger than without correlations, and so extract more work. Our work demonstrates the great potential of photonic experiments – which provide a unique degree of control on the system – to access new regimes in quantum thermodynamics.

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具有相关浴场的增强型光子麦克斯韦恶魔

麦克斯韦恶魔是量子信息处理和热力学之间相互关系的核心。在这个思想实验中，恶魔通过在单粒子水平上获取信息并应用经典的前馈操作，在最初处于平衡状态的两个热水浴之间产生温度梯度，从而可以提取功。在这里，我们使用超快光开关在基于光纤的系统中实现了具有主动前馈功能的麦克斯韦恶魔的光子版本。我们通过实验表明，如果两个温泉浴之间存在相关性，那么与没有相关性相比，恶魔可以产生一个数量级以上的温差，从而提取更多的工作。