Rolf Landauer (1927 – 1999) was an IBM physicist who in 1961 demonstrated that when information is lost in an irreversible circuit, the information becomes entropy and an associated amount of energy is dissipated as heat. This principle is relevant to reversible computing, quantum information and quantum computing.

Landauer was born in February 4, 1927 in Stuttgart, Germanay. He immigrated to the United States in 1938, graduated in 1943 from Stuyvesant High School, one of New York City's mathematics and science magnet schools and obtained his undergraduate degree from Harvard in 1935. Following service in the US Navy as an Electrician's Mate, Landauer earned his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1950.

References

• Perry, R. T. (2004). The temple of quantum computing. p. 26 – 27. Retrieved 11 January 2005 with http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~chillers/TOQCv1_0.pdf

Stuyvesant High School alumni | 1927 births | 1999 deaths

Rolf Landauer | Rolf Landauer | ロルフ・ランダウアー | Rolf Landauer