kT ln 2

LITRolf Landauer (1961) argued that erasing one bit of information must dissipate at least kT ln 2 of heat. Logically reversible computation (Bennett, 1973), which never erases, can in principle avoid it. Bérut et al. (Nature, 2012) measured the heat of erasing a bit held by a colloidal bead in a double-well trap and found it approaching the Landauer bound for slow erasure.

COMPUTEDk = 1.380649×10⁻²³ J/K (exact, SI 2019). At 300 K, kT ln 2 = 2.87×10⁻²¹ J. Toggle reversible (Toffoli/CNOT-style, no erasure) versus irreversible (AND, which erases) gates on random bits, and the page tallies the minimum heat for the irreversible path. Temperature on the slider.

T K gates: irreversible AND

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