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Re: RE: Energy content of a mathematical result.

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg48710] Re: [mg48681] RE: [mg48616] Energy content of a mathematical result.
• From: János <janos.lobb at yale.edu>
• Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 03:52:36 -0400 (EDT)
• References: <200406100643.CAA29476@smc.vnet.net>
• Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com

According to Intel:

http://www.intel.com/technology/itj/q12001/articles/art_4.htm

page 3

the power consumption for microprocessors double in every four years.  
Intel started in 1986 with 2 Watts.  The Sun produces about 4*10^26 
Watts, so if the trend continues uninterrupted, it looks to me that 
just one microprocessor on Earth in year 2330 will shine as bright as 
the Sun.

Now I understand that at about the same time Enterprise do go "Where no 
man has gone before" :)

By the way that brings an interesting question.  If there exist  
civilizations, which are more computationally intensive then ours, how 
much power are they willing to invest into it.  If the drive for 
knowledge is unlimited, then the quest for it must be also somewhat 
unlimited.  So, a sophisticated civilization will use as much energy to 
compute as it is limited by its environment.  They also had to increase 
the speed of the computation tremendously compared to the speed of 
ours.  Our machines are already started to radiate in the infrared 
because of heat dissipation and in the radio spectrum because of the 
computation, so it is safe to assume that theirs might radiate in the 
X-ray or in the gamma spectrum.  What should be a spectral spread if 
such radiation is created not by a natural source, but intense 
"logical" computation?   Is it possible that some gamma sources on the 
sky are just side effects of some distant sophisticated civilizations 
making every day computations ?

János

On Jun 10, 2004, at 2:43 AM, Ingolf Dahl wrote:

> Ckeck for instance http://www.geocities.com/goldenziby/pc.html for
> information about "reversible logic". (I searched the web using Google 
> with
> the search terms "computation dissipation theoretical"). Is this what 
> you
> are looking for?
>
> Ingolf Dahl
> Sweden
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Matthias.Bode at oppenheim.de [mailto:Matthias.Bode at oppenheim.de]
To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
> To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
>> Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 06:48
>> To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
>> Subject: [mg48710] [mg48681] [mg48616] Energy content of a mathematical result.
>>
>>
>> Dear Colleagues,
>>
>> is there a theory - or hypothesis - which share of the processors 
>> energy
>> consumption goes into the result when e. g. a system of equations is 
>> being
>> solved or a list is being subjected to Sort (by Mathematica)? - The
>> processors output cannot be just 100 per cent hot air.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Matthias Bode
>> Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. KGaA
>> Untermainanlage 1
>> D-60329 Frankfurt am Main
>> GERMANY
>> Tel.: +49(0)69 71 34 53 80
>> Mobile: +49(0)172 6 74 95 77
>> Fax: +49(0)69 71 34 95 380
>> E-mail: matthias.bode at oppenheim.de
>> Internet: http://www.oppenheim.de
>>
>
>
----------------------------------------------
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• References:
  • RE: Energy content of a mathematical result.
    • From: "Ingolf Dahl" <ingolf.dahl@telia.com>