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Maxwell's Demon and Computation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

Richard Laing
Richard Laing*
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
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Abstract

In this paper we show how a form of Maxwellian Demon can be interpreted as a computing automaton. We then point out some ways in which the Demon systems can be generalized, and briefly describe and discuss the properties of some of the corresponding automata. It is shown that a generalized Maxwell Demon system can carry out arbitrary Turing computations.

Finally, the association developed between classes of thermodynamic systems and classes of computational systems is employed to suggest approaches to some fundamental problems of the relationships between computation, the information obtained by computation, and energy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , June 1974 , pp. 171 - 178
Copyright
Copyright © 1974 by The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

This research was supported in part through a grant from the National Science Foundation.

References

REFERENCES

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