CCM Colloquium: David Wolpert (Santa Fe Institute)

Wednesday Dec 7, 2022, 10:00 AM → 11:00 AM America/New_York

Title: The stochastic thermodynamics of computation

Abstract: One of the major resource requirements of computers — ranging
from biological cells to human brains to digital computers — are the free
energy costs in running them. These thermodynamic properties of
computers have been a long-standing focus of research in statistical physics,
going back (at least) to the early semi-formal work of Maxwell and of Szilard.

Recent revolutionary breakthroughs in stochastic thermodynamics are allowing us for the first time to analyze the thermodynamics of computers in a fully rigorous manner. Here I illustrate some of these recent results, including the thermodynamic costs of (loop-free) digital circuits, of Turing machines, and
of asynchronous distributed computers like the interacting organelles in a cell.