Rolf Landauer
Physicist known for Landauer's principle

Born
February 4th, 1927
98 years ago
Died
April 28th, 1999
25 years ago — 72 years old
Category
Scientists & Innovators
Country
United States
Links & References
A German-American physicist and academic, made significant contributions in the field of theoretical physics, particularly information theory and its relation to thermodynamics. In 1961, introduced Landauer's principle, which established a fundamental link between information processing and energy consumption. Worked at IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center and contributed to the development of quantum computing and noise in electronic devices. Held various academic positions, including professor at universities in the United States.
Introduced Landauer's principle
Contributed to quantum computing
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