In thermodynamics, computer science thermodynamics is the application of thermodynamics to the study, operation, modeling, and design of computer systems. A closely related filed is information theory, which relies on Shannon entropy to study information.

History
The first formal connection between thermodynamics and computation was made by Hungarian-born American chemical engineer John von Neumann who in a 1949 lecture asserted that any computer operating at a temperature T must dissipate at least kT ln 2 unit of energy, approximately 3E-21 joules at room temperature, “per elementary act of information, that is per elementary decision of a two-way alternative and per elementary transmittal of one unit of information.” [1]

References
1. Ilachinski, Andrew. (2001). Cellular Automata: A Discrete Universe, (pg. 310). World scientific.

Further reading
● Garcia, Narciso. (1986). Physics for Computer Science Students: With Emphasis on Atomic and Semiconductor Physics. John Wiley & Sons.

External links
● Basic Computer Thermodynamics - Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter.

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