General Tech

The First Thermodynamic Computer Was Created

The American startup Normal Computing presented a thermodynamic computer designed for efficient calculations using classical physical principles of thermodynamics. The innovative device heats the data matrix and allows it to naturally cool to thermodynamic equilibrium, providing a faster alternative to traditional computing methods.

The company developed a prototype thermodynamic computer for calculating the inverse matrix and proved its operation. She also claims that the technique works for other cases of calculations in the field of linear algebra.

The prototype is a matrix of repeating groups of elements – generators with an oscillating capacitive circuit. The company calls it a stochastic processing unit (SPU).  Each of the circuits charges the capacitor to the required value, and then the board comes into thermodynamic equilibrium with the environment in which it is placed, for example, it cools in a liquid. After this, the values ​​in the matrix elements are read, which give the desired result in the process of simple cooling of the elements.

Patrick Coles, chief scientist of the conventional computing division and former head of the quantum computing division at Los Alamos National Laboratory, expressed skepticism about the prospects for quantum technology, saying that quantum computers are still at an academic stage and will not yet bring commercial value.

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