Maxwell's Demon and the Thermodynamics of Computation

Bub, Jeffrey (2000) Maxwell's Demon and the Thermodynamics of Computation. UNSPECIFIED. (In Press)

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Abstract

It is generally accepted, following Landauer and Bennett, that the process of measurement involves no minimum entropy cost, but the erasure of information in resetting the memory register of a computer to zero requires dissipating heat into the environment. This thesis has been challenged recently in a two-part article by Earman and Norton. I review some relevant observations in the thermodynamics of computation and argue that Earman and Norton are mistaken: there is in principle no entropy cost to the acquisition of information, but the destruction of information does involve an irreducible entropy cost.

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Creators:

Creators	Email	ORCID
Bub, Jeffrey

Keywords:

Maxwell's Demon, thermodynamics of computation, entropy of erasure

Subjects:

Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics

Depositing User:

Jeffrey Bub

Date Deposited:

14 Apr 2001

Last Modified:

07 Oct 2010 15:10

Item ID:

230

Public Domain:

Commentary on:

J. Earman and J.D. Norton, `Exorcist XIV: The Wrath of Maxwell's Demon. Part I. From Maxwell to Szilard,' Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 29, 435--471 (1998).

Subjects:

Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics

Date:

June 2000

URI:

https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/230