Relations between Entropies Produced in Nondeterministic Thermodynamic Processes
Abstract
Description
Landauer's erasure principle is generalized to nondeterministic processes on systems having an arbitrary number of non-symmetrical logical states. The condition that the process is applied in the same way, irrespective of the initial logical state, imposes some restrictions on the individual heat exchanges associated with each possible transition. The complete set of such restrictions are derived by a statistical analysis of the phase-space flow induced by the process. Landauer's erasure principle can be derived from and is a special case of these.
12 pages with one figure; a final major revision in presentation; physical assumptions are clarified now
12 pages with one figure; a final major revision in presentation; physical assumptions are clarified now