Generalization of the Landauer Principle for Computing Devices Based on Many-Valued Logic

Abstract

The Landauer principle asserts that “the information is physical”. In its strict meaning, Landauer’s principle states that there is a minimum possible amount of energy required to erase one bit of information, known as the Landauer bound W = k B T l n 2 , where T is the temperature of a thermal reservoir used in the process and k B is Boltzmann’s constant. Modern computers use the binary system in which a number is expressed in the base-2 numeral system. We demonstrate that the Landauer principle remains valid for the physical computing device based on the ternary, and more generally, N-based logic. The energy necessary for erasure of one bit of information (the Landauer bound) W = k B T l n 2 remains untouched for the computing devices exploiting a many-valued logic.