The thermodynamic cost of quantum operations

Abstract

The amount of heat generated by computers is rapidly becoming one of the main problems for developing new generations of information technology. The thermodynamics of computation sets the ultimate physical bounds on heat generation. A lower bound is set by the Landauer Limit, at which computation becomes thermodynamically reversible. For classical computation there is no physical principle which prevents this limit being reached, and approaches to it are already being experimentally tested. In this paper we show that for quantum computation there is an unavoidable excess heat generation that renders it inherently thermodynamically irreversible. The Landauer Limit cannot, in general, be reached by quantum computers. We show the existence of a lower bound to the heat generated by quantum computing that exceeds that given by the Landauer Limit, give the special conditions where this excess cost may be avoided, and show how classical computing falls within these special conditions.

13 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (9)

• High-precision test of Landauer's principle in a feedback trap
• The thermodynamic meaning of negative entropy
• Quantum Szilard Engine
• Coherence and measurement in quantum thermodynamics
• Experimental demonstration of information to energy conversion in a quantum system at the Landauer Limit
• Quantum thermodynamics of general quantum processes
• Full distribution of work done on a quantum system for arbitrary initial states
• Relations between Entropies Produced in Nondeterministic Thermodynamic Processes
• Heat Transfer Operators Associated with Quantum Operations

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• Efficiency Optimization in Quantum Computing: Balancing Thermodynamics and Computational Performance
• Low-control and robust quantum refrigerator and applications with electronic spins in diamond
• Thermodynamic Constraints on Quantum Information Gain and Error Correction: A Triple Trade-Off
• Thermodynamically free quantum measurements
• Robustness of controlled Hamiltonian approaches to unitary quantum gates
• A topologically protected quantum dynamo effect in a driven spin-boson model
• Molecular machines for quantum error correction
• Effect of quantum coherence on Landauer's principle
• Lower bounds for the mean dissipated heat in an open quantum system
• Hamiltonian quantum gates -- energetic advantage from entangleability