据悉，自19世纪以来，物理系统的热力学性质与计算性质之间的关系一直是理论研究的重点。在过去的半个世纪里，随着数字设备的能耗激增，这一关系也变得越来越具有实际意义。重要的是，现实世界中的计算机在工作时受到多种物理约束，这些约束影响着它们的热力学性质。此外，其中许多约束既适用于自然存在的计算机（如大脑或真核细胞），也适用于数字系统。最明显的是，所有这些系统都必须尽快完成计算，使用的自由度尽可能少。这意味着它们远离热平衡状态工作。
此外，许多数字计算机和生物计算机都是模块化的、分层的系统，其子系统之间的连接受到严格限制。另一个例子是，为了简化设计，数字计算机需要是由全局时钟控制的周期性过程。20世纪关于计算热力学的分析都没有考虑这些约束。新兴的随机热力学领域为分析受所有这些约束的系统提供了正式的工具。研究人员认为，这些工具可能帮助他们更深入地理解物理系统的基本热力学性质与其所执行的计算之间的关系。
附：英文原文
Title: Is stochastic thermodynamics the key to understanding the energy costs of computation
Author: Wolpert, David H., Korbel, Jan, Lynn, Christopher W., Tasnim, Farita, Grochow, Joshua A., Karde, Gülce, Aimone, James B., Balasubramanian, Vijay, De Giuli, Eric, Doty, David, Freitas, Nahuel, Marsili, Matteo, Ouldridge, Thomas E., Richa, Andréa W., Riechers, Paul, Roldán, édgar, Rubenstein, Brenda, Toroczkai, Zoltan, Paradiso, Joseph
Issue&Volume: 2024-10-29
Abstract: The relationship between the thermodynamic and computational properties of physical systems has been a major theoretical interest since at least the 19th century. It has also become of increasing practical importance over the last half-century as the energetic cost of digital devices has exploded. Importantly, real-world computers obey multiple physical constraints on how they work, which affects their thermodynamic properties. Moreover, many of these constraints apply to both naturally occurring computers, like brains or Eukaryotic cells, and digital systems. Most obviously, all such systems must finish their computation quickly, using as few degrees of freedom as possible. This means that they operate far from thermal equilibrium. Furthermore, many computers, both digital and biological, are modular, hierarchical systems with strong constraints on the connectivity among their subsystems. Yet another example is that to simplify their design, digital computers are required to be periodic processes governed by a global clock. None of these constraints were considered in 20th-century analyses of the thermodynamics of computation. The new field of stochastic thermodynamics provides formal tools for analyzing systems subject to all of these constraints. We argue here that these tools may help us understand at a far deeper level just how the fundamental thermodynamic properties of physical systems are related to the computation they perform.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2321112121
Source: https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2321112121