Minimally dissipative multibit logical operations

Modern computing architectures are vastly more energy dissipative than fundamental thermodynamic limits suggest, motivating the search for principled approaches to low-dissipation logical operations. We formulate multibit logical gates (bit erasure, nand) as optimal transport problems, extending beyond classical one-dimensional bit erasure to scenarios where existing methods fail. Using entropically regularized unbalanced optimal transport, we derive tractable solutions and establish general energy-speed-accuracy tradeoffs that demonstrate that faster, more accurate operations necessarily dissipate more energy. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the Landauer limits cannot be trivially overcome in higher-dimensional geometries. We develop practical algorithms combining optimal transport with generative modeling techniques to construct dynamical controllers that follow Wasserstein geodesics. These protocols achieve near-optimal dissipation and can, in principle, be implemented in realistic experimentally setups. The framework bridges fundamental thermodynamic limits with scalable computational design for energy-efficient information processing.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical review. E
Published
2025-12-08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/bs35-xp2c
Primary Topic
Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Minimally dissipative multibit logical operations

Karl J. Friston
Physical review. E
Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
article

Minimally dissipative multibit logical operations

Karl J. Friston
article en

Abstract

Modern computing architectures are vastly more energy dissipative than fundamental thermodynamic limits suggest, motivating the search for principled approaches to low-dissipation logical operations. We formulate multibit logical gates (bit erasure, nand) as optimal transport problems, extending beyond classical one-dimensional bit erasure to scenarios where existing methods fail. Using entropically regularized unbalanced optimal transport, we derive tractable solutions and establish general energy-speed-accuracy tradeoffs that demonstrate that faster, more accurate operations necessarily dissipate more energy. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the Landauer limits cannot be trivially overcome in higher-dimensional geometries. We develop practical algorithms combining optimal transport with generative modeling techniques to construct dynamical controllers that follow Wasserstein geodesics. These protocols achieve near-optimal dissipation and can, in principle, be implemented in realistic experimentally setups. The framework bridges fundamental thermodynamic limits with scalable computational design for energy-efficient information processing.

Physical review. EVol. 113(1)
Stanford University (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 68%
Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
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