Information erasure in copolymers

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that molecular information erasure during copolymer depolymerization is constrained by thermodynamic principles, specifically Landauer's principle, and explores the minimum entropy production involved.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis linking information erasure in copolymers to thermodynamic limits, supported by an exactly solvable model.

Findings

Depolymerization requires minimum entropy production per Landauer's principle

The minimum entropy production can exceed the theoretical lower bound for certain mechanisms

The model illustrates the thermodynamic constraints on molecular information erasure

Abstract

Information erasure at the molecular scale during the depolymerization of copolymers is shown to require a minimum entropy production in accordance with Landauer's principle and as a consequence of the second law of thermodynamics. This general result is illustrated with an exactly solvable model of copolymerization, which also shows that the minimum entropy production that is possible for a specific molecular mechanism of depolymerization may be larger than the minimum required by Landauer's principle.