The Thermodynamic Costs of Computing and Communications
February 25 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Login to the talk here:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87966171694?pwd=buTDZBGgLoxmM2LoumUcBa8PUWchha.1
Meeting ID: 879 6617 1694
Passcode: 106562
About the Talk
Running a computer program isn’t just about processing information – it also comes with energy costs. The amount of energy needed depends on both the type of computation being done and the physical system doing it.
In a special DC Science Writers Association (DCSWA) lunchtime event, the Santa Fe Institute’s David Wolpert will share new findings on the minimum thermodynamic costs required to perform a communication within a computer, and will show us what it takes to run a simple type of computer model called a deterministic finite automaton (DFA), which follows a set of fixed rules to process information. David also will discuss emerging research questions at the intersection of stochastic thermodynamics (a field of study describing systems that are out of thermodynamic equilibrium) and computer science theory, highlighting how they drive advancements in both fields.
Our Speaker
David Wolpert is a professor at the Santa Fe Institute, with affiliations at the Complexity Science Hub in Vienna, Arizona State University, and the International Center for Theoretical Research in Italy. David has authored three books, over 250 papers, and holds three patents. He is an associate editor for multiple journals and a fellow of the IEEE.
With 45,000 citations, his research spans thermodynamics of computation, physics foundations, social dynamics, machine learning, game theory, and distributed optimization. His machine learning method, stacking, contributed to winning the Netflix competition, and his work on the No Free Lunch theorems has over 10,000 citations.
Wolpert previously held positions at Los Alamos National Laboratory, NASA Ames, and Stanford University, where he founded the Collective Intelligence group. He has also worked at IBM and a data mining startup. He holds physics degrees from Princeton and the University of California.
Moderator and Event Organizer
DCSWA Board Member Abha Eli is director of communications at the Santa Fe Institute. An editor and journalist from Nepal, Abha earned an MFA in Creative Writing (fiction) from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. After graduation, she joined CERN, where she remained for the next decade, exploring possibilities in science communications for particle physics. She also has worked with ICTP’s Physics Without Frontiers and the European Physical Society’s High Energy Particle Physics group to design and create communication strategies. Before joining SFI, she was the science communications manager at the American Physical Society.