Photon Detection as a Process of Information Gain

. In this paper we build on this result and consider in more detail the process of information gain in photon detection. Considering photons of energy

E_{p h}

and a photo-ionization detector operated at a temperature

T_{D}

, we evaluate the signal-to-noise ratio

S N (E_{p h}, T_{D})

for different detector designs and detector operation conditions and show that the information gain realized upon detection,

i_{r e a l} (E_{p h}, T_{D})

, always remains smaller than the potential information

i_{p o t} (E_{p h}, T_{D})

carried with the photons themselves, i.e.,:

i_{r e a l} (E_{p h}, T_{D}) = \frac{1}{\ln (2)} \ln (S N (E_{p h}, T_{D})) \leq i_{p o t} (E_{p h}, T_{D}) = \frac{1}{\ln (2)} \frac{E_{p h}}{k_{B} T_{D}}

. This result is shown to be generally valid for all kinds of technical photon detectors, which shows that

i_{p o t} (E_{p h}, T_{D})

can indeed be regarded as an intrinsic information content that is carried with the photons themselves. Overall, our results suggest that photon detectors perform as thermodynamic engines that incompletely convert potential information into realized information with an efficiency that is limited by the second law of thermodynamics and the Landauer energy bounds on information gain and information erasure. View Full-Text

Keywords: photon; photon detection; information gain; detection efficiency; figure of merit (FOM); Landauer principle

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Müller, J.G. Photon Detection as a Process of Information Gain. Entropy 2020, 22, 392. https://doi.org/10.3390/e22040392

AMA Style

Müller JG. Photon Detection as a Process of Information Gain. Entropy. 2020; 22(4):392. https://doi.org/10.3390/e22040392

Chicago/Turabian Style

Müller, J G. 2020. "Photon Detection as a Process of Information Gain" Entropy 22, no. 4: 392. https://doi.org/10.3390/e22040392

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