← All parts of this equation

Equation 23 · Part 4 · The Statistical Mechanics of Irreversibility at Molecular Scale

=

Qmin⁡=kBTln⁡2Q_{\min} = k_{\mathrm B}T\ln 2
=

What this part means

The expressions on both sides represent the same quantity under the stated assumptions.

Its job in the formula

The equals sign connects the complete expression on the left with the complete expression on the right. Both sides must have compatible units.

The passage around this formula

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 Qmin⁡=kBTln⁡2Q_{\min} = k_{\mathrm B}T\ln 2. per erased bit [ 9 ] . This is a lower bound on an idealized erasure, not a claim that every transistor switch dissipates exactly kBk_{\mathrm B}Tln⁡\ln2 , nor that computation in general has one universal energy per operation.

Read this part in the article →

Learn the underlying idea

An equals sign says that the expression on its left and the expression on its right have the same value under the stated definitions and assumptions.

Open the illustrated equality: what the equals sign claims guide →

Sources cited in the surrounding passage

These citations provide research context; check each source for the exact claim it supports.