dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaIs Computation Reversible?
| Authors | Michael C. Parker, Stuart D. Walker |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0401077 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0401077 |
Abstract
Recent investigations into the physical nature of information and fundamental limits to information transmission have revealed questions such as the possibility of superluminal data transfer or not; and whether reversible computation (information processing) is feasible. In some respects these uncertainties stem from the determination of whether information is inherent in points of non-analyticity (discontinuities) or smoother functions. The close relationship between information and entropy is also well known, e.g. Brillouin's concept of negentropy (negative entropy) as a measure for information. Since the leading edge of a step-discontinuity propagates in any dispersive medium at the speed of light in vacuum as a precursor to the main body of the dispersed pulse, we propose in this paper to treat information as being intrinsic to points of non-analyticity (discontinuities). This allows us to construct a theory addressing these dilemmas in a fashion consistent with causality, and the fundamental laws of thermodynamics. A consequence of our proposition is that the movement of information is always associated with the dissipation of heat, and therefore that the concept of reversible classical computation is not tenable.
{
"annotation_id": "5729cb20-3b1d-44c8-a65b-53555353a5e8",
"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:00:49.116000Z",
"date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:00:49.116000Z",
"file_hash": "6126f585706bf2a3989b3a42d27e8acdf904431ef0c713a5d5da7f453a48ae45",
"private": false,
"record": {
"abstract": "Recent investigations into the physical nature of information and fundamental\nlimits to information transmission have revealed questions such as the\npossibility of superluminal data transfer or not; and whether reversible\ncomputation (information processing) is feasible. In some respects these\nuncertainties stem from the determination of whether information is inherent in\npoints of non-analyticity (discontinuities) or smoother functions. The close\nrelationship between information and entropy is also well known, e.g.\nBrillouin\u0027s concept of negentropy (negative entropy) as a measure for\ninformation. Since the leading edge of a step-discontinuity propagates in any\ndispersive medium at the speed of light in vacuum as a precursor to the main\nbody of the dispersed pulse, we propose in this paper to treat information as\nbeing intrinsic to points of non-analyticity (discontinuities). This allows us\nto construct a theory addressing these dilemmas in a fashion consistent with\ncausality, and the fundamental laws of thermodynamics. A consequence of our\nproposition is that the movement of information is always associated with the\ndissipation of heat, and therefore that the concept of reversible classical\ncomputation is not tenable.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0401077",
"authors": [
"Michael C. Parker",
"Stuart D. Walker"
],
"categories": [
"physics.class-ph",
"physics.gen-ph"
],
"title": "Is Computation Reversible?",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0401077"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "ed777045-b9bd-427b-8d82-952525062130",
"id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
"type": "Model",
"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
"version": "0.1.0"
},
"user_id": 1000002
}