In a groundbreaking discovery, researchers at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) have confirmed a fundamental principle of quantum physics: deleting information always requires energy. This finding, published in Austria, sheds light on the intricate relationship between information and energy, with potential implications for future quantum technologies.
The research, led by Professor Jörg Schmiedmayer, focused on the Landauer principle, which states that erasing information is never free. This principle has significant implications for quantum computers and sets fundamental limits on information processing based on quantum physics. The team used ultracold atom clouds to study this phenomenon.
"The so-called Landauer principle states that deleting information is never free," says Professor Jörg Schmiedmayer from the Atominstitut of the TU Wien. "No matter how you store information, no matter how sparingly and efficiently you proceed - deleting one bit always results in at least a certain increase in entropy and thus also a loss of energy." This principle plays an important role for quantum computers and sets fundamental limits for information processing based on quantum physics.
The team cooled thousands of rubidium atoms and trapped them on an atom chip. By carefully measuring the interference between two atom clouds, they could determine how information is lost and entropy is transferred. This allowed them to confirm that the Landauer principle holds true even in complex, many-particle quantum systems.
"This is an important confirmation that information and quantum physics are actually intertwined in such an exciting and profound way, as Rolf Landauer thought," says Jörg Schmiedmayer. "This brings us a better understanding of future quantum technologies - and it also brings us closer to an understanding of the fundamental questions of quantum physics, especially with regard to the still mysterious measurement process and the behavior of many-particle systems."