The Landauer Limit and Thermodynamics of Biological Computation

Explore the intersection of physics, information theory, and biological computation in this 31-minute lecture from the Santa Fe Institute's Annual Science Board Symposium. Delve into the Landauer limit and its implications for nonequilibrium thermodynamics, focusing on engineered systems and their associated thermodynamics. Examine concepts such as many-to-one mappings, refrigerators, and Markov kernels through practical examples. Investigate the relationship between entropy changes and biological systems, including the design of brains and biochemistry. Gain insights into the thermodynamics of the terrestrial biosphere and participate in a thought-provoking Q&A session to deepen your understanding of this complex topic.

Intro
Physics and Information Theory
Nonequilibrium thermodynamics
Characteristics of engineered systems
The associated thermodynamics
Manytoone vs refrigerator
A simple map
The Markov kernel
Example
Fun stuff
Important point
Change in entropy
Biological systems
Design of brains
Design of biochemistry
Terrestrial biosphere
Summary
Questions