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Published equation contexts

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

Why this formula appears here

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.

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kBk_{\mathrm B}

Symbol k_mathrm B

kmk_mathrm B is an input to the expression that computes the quantity on the left.

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Published contexts (1)

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

Equation 23 · Physics

The Statistical Mechanics of Irreversibility at Molecular Scale

This equation states an equality: the expressions on both sides have the same value under the article’s assumptions.

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.

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