Rolf Landauer

1927-1999 · information physics, quantum computing, statistical physics

German-American physicist, pioneer in the field of information physics. Formulated Landauer's principle, linking the erasure of information with the inevitable release of heat, which became the foundation for the theory of reversible and quantum computing.

Biography

Born in Stuttgart. Emigrated to the USA in 1938. Studied at Harvard, received his PhD there. Spent his entire career at IBM Research, where he became one of the leading scientists. Member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. Recipient of numerous awards, including the Oliver E. Buckley Prize.

Key discoveries

Landauer's principle (1961)
according to which erasing one bit of information at temperature T requires a minimum energy of kT ln 2
the idea of reversible logic and the connection between information and thermodynamics
contribution to the understanding of conductivity in mesoscopic systems.

💡 Landauer was a well-known skeptic regarding the exponential growth of computing power, which led to heated debates with colleagues.

"He asserted that information is physical."

Concepts

entropy quantum computer

Laws

Landauer's principle

Scientists

Jacob Bekenstein David Deutsch Wilhelm Wien Ludwig Boltzmann Charles Bennett John von Neumann Richard Feynman David Wineland

Statistical Mech2026-02-063 minarXiv:2602.06560

The Demon with a Delay: How to Outsmart the Landauer Bound

The microcantilever oscillates at 1270 Hz, and its position controls a virtual potential: an invisible energy landscape with two wells, created by feedback. Normally, switching between the wells occurs when the system crosses the zero point, but now a delay comes into play: the threshold is shifted by an amount h.

Salambô Dago·Ludovic Bellon

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History and Philosophy of Physics2026-06-131 minarXiv:2606.15120express

Information — The Shadow of What Never Was

Erasing even a single bit means releasing heat. This discovery by Rolf Landauer hinted that information is neither material nor illusory. Imagine that every event casts a shadow: that is information, the collection of all unrealized possibilities.

Madhurendra Mishra

Landauer's principle Bekenstein-Hawking entropy Charles Bennett Rolf Landauer Seth Lloyd Hawking radiation information theory entropy black hole

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Rolf Landauer

Biography

Key discoveries

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