Equation 23 · The Statistical Mechanics of Irreversibility at Molecular Scale
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This equation states an equality: the expressions on both sides have the same value under the article’s assumptions. Read the equation part by part below; each part has a contextual explanation and a link to its mathematical background.
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Symbol k_mathrm B
athrm B is an input to the expression that computes the quantity on the left.
Symbol T
T is an input to the expression that computes the quantity on the left.
=
The expressions on both sides represent the same quantity under the stated assumptions.
See an illustrated explanation →subscript
The lower label selects a particular version, component, or indexed member of the quantity. For example, x₀ and xₜ can be values at different positions.
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What the article says around this equation
Landauer’s analysis located a thermodynamic cost in logically irreversible operations. Resetting a one-bit memory from two equiprobable logical states to one standard state reduces its logical entropy. In an ideal isothermal implementation, the minimum heat dissipated to the environment is . per erased bit [ 9 ] . This is a lower bound on an idealized erasure, not a claim that every transistor switch dissipates exactly T2 , nor that computation in general has one universal energy per operation.
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