Wednesday, Dec 14
2:00 PM
C203
The stochastic thermodynamics of computation
David Wolpert
Santa Fe Institute
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 (time allowing) of asynchronous distributed computers like the interacting organelles in a cell.
Host: Christopher Lynn
Center for the Physics of Biological Function, CUNY Graduate Center and Princeton University
Lunch will be provided before the seminar in Room 5209. All are welcome, RSVP encouraged— please contact host to attend.