Information erasure without an energy cost

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Vaccaro, Joan A. and Barnett, Stephen M. (2011) Information erasure without an energy cost. Proceedings A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 467 (2130). pp. 1770-1778. ISSN 1471-2962 (https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2010.0577)

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Abstract

Landauer argued that the process of erasing the information stored in a memory device incurs an energy cost in the form of a minimum amount of mechanical work. We find, however, that this energy cost can be reduced to zero by paying a cost in angular momentum or any other conserved quantity. Erasing the memory of Maxwell's demon in this way implies that work can be extracted from a single thermal reservoir at a cost of angular momentum and an increase in total entropy. The implications of this for the second law of thermodynamics are assessed.

  • Item type:Article
    ID code:31065
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    8 June 2011
    Published
    Subjects:Science > Physics
    Department:Faculty of Science > Physics
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:16 May 2011 10:29
    Last modified:11 Nov 2024 09:44
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/31065
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