The Second Law Extended to Time-Reversal Asymmetric Systems—Thermodynamic Threshold Optimization

Time-reversal asymmetric systems are not bound by H-theorems which assume time-reversal symmetry. Yet few experiments have succeeded in showing anomalous effects by time-asymmetric systems because power output is too low to be observable. Successful experiments must require: 1) time asymmetry and 2) matching measures of asymmetry and of symmetry analogously to source load matching prescribed by the Maximum Power Transfer Theorem in electrical engineering. This paper uses a variation of Maxwell’s demon, Szilard’s pressure demon, to describe the thermodynamic threshold optimization method applied at the interface between macro and micro scales using conjugate quantities including energy and bandwidth (time). Optimization constraints include the first law applied to the whole system and the second law only to time symmetric components. The optimization criteria are power and bandwidth output. A roadmap is provided for designing devices based on other time-reversal symmetric phenomena such as the ExB drift, MIM diodes, and asymmetric membranes. A fully optimized demon acting on air molecules at STP can produce 1276 mW/mm2, (about 1000 times solar irradiance of 1.33 mW/mm2), and 74.1 KW/mm3. This enormous power physically limited by input heat flow, is due to massive parallelism of multiple demons, each one in a chamber 17 nm on the side, and each chamber holding a single particle. Such small dimensions may be achievable on semiconductors in which electrical carriers replace gas particles. The proposed extension to the second law limits power output to half the free energy per second produced by time symmetry-breaking processes. An analogy is made with the Holographic Principle.