On the reversal of the (statistical) laws of nature: Schrödinger, Kolmogorov and Landauer. Some elements for the history of an idea.
| When |
May 31, 2021
from 11:00 to 12:00 |
|---|---|
| Where | Web Seminar |
| Attendees |
Paolo Muratore-Ginanneschi |
| Add event to calendar |
vCal
iCal
|
In 1931 amidst the intense debate on the interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, Schroedinger presented his report "On the Reversal of the Laws of Nature" to the Prussian Academy of Science. The paper pointed out the existence of a notion of time reversal which applies to diffusion processes commonly conceptualized as describing irreversible, dissipative evolution. To that goal Schroedinger introduced and solved a stochastic model of optimal mass transport.
Schroedinger paper motivated Kolmogorov's 1936-37 papers on detailed balance and time reversal of Markov processes. In the talk, I will describe how these results connect with Landauer's principle stating that only logical irreversible operations in computing correspond to thermodynamically irreversible physical transitions. The theoretical and experimental verification of Landauer's principle is the subject of current intense research activity.
The talk is based on joint work with Raphael Chetrite (Nice) and Kay Schwieger (Stuttgart).