Hamiltonian Memory: An Erasable Classical Bit

Abstract

Computations implemented on a physical system are fundamentally limited by the laws of physics. A prominent example for a physical law that bounds computations is the Landauer principle. According to this principle, erasing a bit of information requires a concentration of probability in phase space, which by Liouville's theorem is impossible in pure Hamiltonian dynamics. It therefore requires dissipative dynamics with heat dissipation of at least $k_{B}T\log 2$ per erasure of one bit. Using a concrete example, we show that when the dynamic is confined to a single energy shell it is possible to concentrate the probability on this shell using Hamiltonian dynamic, and therefore to implement an erasable bit with no thermodynamic cost.

arXiv comment3 Figures, 14 pages

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Energetic cost of Hamiltonian quantum gates
• Landauer Principle and Thermodynamics of Computation
• Adiabatic computing for optimal thermodynamic efficiency of information processing
• Approaching Landauer's Bound In A Spin-Encoded Quantum Computer
• Experimental nonequilibrium memory erasure beyond Landauer's bound