Understanding the thermodynamics of computation: a pedagogical overview

Abstract

Computation and information theory are fundamental across disciplines such as physics, computer science, chemistry, biology, and even philosophy. A central focus of research in computation is optimizing its cost, with energy being a key resource required to drive processes. The thermodynamic cost of computation has come into sharp focus, rooted in Landauer’s seminal work, which established that a computer consumes \(k_BT \, \ln 2\) units of energy to erase one bit of information, where T is the system’s temperature and \(k_B\) is Boltzmann’s constant. In this tutorial, we will first cover the fundamental concepts of computation in detail. Following that, we will explore their connection and significance from a thermodynamic perspective.