Demons: Maxwell's demon, Szilard's engine and Landauer's erasure–dissipation

摘要

This talk addressed the following questions in the public debate at HoTPI: (i ) energy dissipation limits of switches, memories and control; (ii ) whether reversible computers are possible, or does their concept violate thermodynamics; (iii ) Szilard's engine, Maxwell's demon and Landauer's principle: corrections to their exposition in the literature; (iv ) whether Landauer's erasure–dissipation principle is valid, if the same energy dissipation holds for writing information, or if it is invalid; and (v ) whether (non-secure) erasure of memories, or the writing of the same amount of information, dissipates most heat.