Too Good to be True: Entropy, Information, Computation and the Uninformed Thermodynamics of Erasure

Key Points

• To critically evaluate the integration of information and computation theories with thermodynamics and their implications for erasure processes.
• Theoretical analysis of information-computation literature regarding thermodynamics.
• Examination of Landauer’s principle and its implications for memory and thermalization.
• Assessment of the role of thermodynamic fluctuations in this context.
• Findings indicate that integrations often serve only as relabeling of traditional thermodynamics concepts.
• Identified conflation of dynamic and static probabilities undermines the application of Landauer’s principle.
• Noted significant neglect of thermodynamic fluctuations impacts the understanding of the thermodynamics of erasure.