The Energetic Cost of Information

Can we imagine to design a perfect computer able to perform irreversible logic operations without consuming any energy ? At this question Rolf Landauer answered no in 1961. Making a connection with thermodynamics, Landauer pointed out that the creation of an information bit demands a minimal quantity of energy whose value is known today as Landauer's bound.

In this talk we will first summarize several fundamental concepts of thermodynamics such as the entropy, the second principle and the paradox of Maxwell's demon. We then show how Landauer's bound is strongly connected with these concepts. Then we describe how this minimal energy can be measured in experiments. Finally we discuss the importance of these findings for applications.