Clever timing makes computers produce less heat—even below Landauer's limit
Tuesday, January 29, 2019 - 09:20
in Physics & Chemistry
Computer systems produce a lot of heat. Data centers are full of buzzing cooling fans, and even smartphones can heat up with high use. Reducing energy consumption is one of the main challenges in information technology. But there is a theoretical, temperature-dependent lower limit to cooling, as stated by Rolf Landauer in the 1960s. Jan Klaers of UT now shows that by cleverly timing the interaction of heat and logical operations, it is possible to go even lower than this limit. This new theory, presented in Physical Review Letters, may lead to increasingly energy-efficient electronics.