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arXiv:1702.08715quant-ph

Building a Completely Reversible Computer

Martin Lukac, Gerhard W. Dueck, Michitaka Kameyama, Anirban Pathak

Abstract

A critical analysis of the feasibility of reversible computing is performed. The key question is: Is it possible to build a completely reversible computer? A closer look into the internal aspects of the reversible computing as well as the external constraints such as the second law of thermodynamics has demonstrated that several difficulties would have to be solved before reversible computer is being built. It is shown that a conventional reversible computer would require energy for setting up the reversible inputs from irreversible signals, for the reading out of the reversible outputs, for the transport of the information between logic elements and finally for the control signals that will require more energy dissipating into the environment. A loose bound on the minimum amount of energy required to be dissipated during the physical implementation of a reversible computer is obtained and a generalization of the principles for reversible computing is provided.

arXiv comments
15 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables
Journal reference
DOI
Subjects
quant-phQuantum Physics cs.ETEmerging Technologies

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Linked by 4 identifiable commenters in 4 comments across 2 threads, from Apr 2017 to Oct 2020. Found in 1 HN submission from Apr 2017 to Apr 2017. Open submission discussions.

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Discussed in comments2 threads

  1. Nilang.jl – A Reversible Julia DSL 1 comment

    • I think it's a variant of the latter -- IIUC no information can be "lost" in reversible computing, so the output of a reversible hash function might be both the hash and some number of other outputs, all of which you would have to know if you wanted to reverse the hash function.…

      cbkellerView on HNParent context

  2. Building a Completely Reversible Computer 3 comments

    • Direct link to paper at arXiv, https://arxiv.org/pdf/1702.08715.pdf

      brudgersView on HNParent context

    • Link to the abstract: https://arxiv.org/abs/1702.08715 Generally, it is better to link to the abstract than to the PDF. If the paper gets revised the abstract page page's PDF link will point to the latest version of the paper (with links available to prior revisions). The direct…

      tzsView on HNParent context

    • Here https://arxiv.org/abs/1702.08715 is a link to the same article that might be a little easier to use.

      adrianratnapalaView on HNParent context

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