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Thermodynamics of Computation

Irreversibility and Heat Generation in the Computing Process

From Thermodynamics of Computation
reference groups
Computer Science Engineering to Address Energy Costs
General Non-equilibrium Statistical Physics
Logically Reversible Computing
Naturally Occurring Biological Computation
Thermodynamics of Single Cells
author-supplied keywords
keywords
authors
Rolf Landauer
title
Irreversibility and Heat Generation in the Computing Process
year
1961
pages
183-191
volume
5
issue
3
publisher
IBM Corp
abstract
It is argued that computing machines inevitably involve devices which perform logical functions that do not have a single-valued inverse. This logical irreversibility is associated with physical irreversibility and requires a minimal heat generation, per machine cycle, typically of the order of kT for each irreversible function. This dissipation serves the purpose of standardizing signals and making them independent of their exact logical history. Two simple, but representative, models of bistable devices are subjected to a more detailed analysis of switching kinetics to yield the relationship between speed and energy dissipation, and to estimate the effects of errors induced by thermal fluctuations.


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