On 7/1/2014 9:40 PM, LizR wrote:
On 2 July 2014 15:46, meekerdb <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:On 7/1/2014 6:52 PM, LizR wrote:Interesting. How is the energy required to erase a single bit reducible to statistical mechanics?Erasing a bit means putting it in a known state, which is a decrease in entropy.I don't get why a "known state" is important here. I certainly don't see why it's a decrease in entropy. (I assume you mean known to someone?)
If you just left it in some unknown state you wouldn't be erasing it. Entropy decreases because before the bit was in one of two possible states; after it's in only one.
http://www.nature.com/news/the-unavoidable-cost-of-computation-revealed-1.10186 Brent -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
