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# Anisotropic random resistor networks: a model for piezoresistive response of thick-film resistors.

## I Introduction

Thick-film resistors (TFRs) are a particular class of granular metals made of RuO2, Bi2Ru2O7, or other metal-oxide granules embedded in an insulating glassy matrix. The importance of TFRs in applicative problems is due to their large piezoresistive response which, together with high stability and low manufacturing costs, makes the TFRs highly competitive as pressure and force sensors. Hence, the full understanding of the factors governing the piezoresistive response is a very important issue in optimizing the performances of TFRs. The interest in the piezoresistive response however concerns also more fundamental aspects connected, as we discuss in the following, with the role of transport anisotropy in disordered systems.

In practical measurements, the piezoresistive response is obtained by the so-called gauge factor $`K`$, commonly defined as $`K=\delta R/\epsilon R`$, where $`\delta R`$ is the change of resistance $`R`$ for a given applied strain $`\epsilon `$. When the strain is directed along the voltage drop, the change in resistance determines the longitudinal gauge factor $`K_\mathrm{L}`$. Usually, in TFRs the gauge factor ranges from $`K_\mathrm{L}2`$ up to $`K_\mathrm{L}35`$ or more, following roughly the empirical relation

$$K_\mathrm{L}\mathrm{ln}R.$$
(1)
Both the high values of $`K_\mathrm{L}`$ and Eq.(1) point towards a scenario in which tunneling processes between metallic grains are the main source of resistance. In fact, if $`d`$ is the mean tunneling distance, then transport between adjacent metallic grains is approximatively

$$R\mathrm{exp}(2d/\xi ),$$
(2)
where $`\xi `$ is the localization length. Let us assume that under an applied strain $`\epsilon `$ the distance $`d`$ changes to $`dd+\delta d=d(1+\epsilon )`$, where we have set $`\epsilon =\delta d/d`$. The strain-induced change of $`R`$ is therefore $`\delta R/R2d\epsilon /\xi `$, which implies the empirical relation Eq.(1).

In obtaining this simple result, we have assumed that the direction of intergrain tunneling is along the direction of the applied strain. In this way we obtained an upper limit of the longitudinal gauge factor $`K_\mathrm{L}`$. In structurally isotropic systems, however, the direction between two neighbouring grains is oriented randomly and can be even ortogonal to the direction of $`\epsilon `$. This leads to a reduction of $`K_\mathrm{L}`$ and to a contemporary appearance of a nonzero transverse gauge factor $`K_\mathrm{T}`$ defined by the change of resistance when the voltage drop is ortogonal to the direction of $`\epsilon `$. In addition, if we consider also that TFRs are disordered conductors, then it is natural to expect that, in flowing from one end to the other of the sample, the microscopic currents are subjected to drastic changes of direction sampling therefore regions where the intergrain distance is $`d(1+\epsilon )`$ and regions where $`d`$ remains unstrained. This effect contributes to the decrease of $`K_\mathrm{L}`$ and to the enhancement of $`K_\mathrm{T}`$.

What is commonly observed in TFRs is that $`K_\mathrm{L}`$ and $`K_\mathrm{T}`$ are comparable, indicating therefore that the current tortuosity induced by disorder and random bond orientations is an important element and needs further investigation. To this end, we have recently addressed the problem of the piezoresistance in a simplified model of TFRs (or more generally of granular metals) consisting of a random resistor network with a fraction $`p`$ of bonds having resistances of the form of Eq.(2) and the remaining fraction $`1p`$ having zero conductance. In accord with the qualitative discussion of above, we have found that as $`p`$ is reduced from the unity, the longitudinal gauge factor is diminished and the transverse one is enhanced. This trend holds true all the way down to the critical bond concentration $`p_c`$ at which the conductance $`G`$ vanishes and $`K_\mathrm{L}K_\mathrm{T}`$ for an uniaxial strain. The observation that $`K_\mathrm{L}K_\mathrm{T}`$ in TFRs could therefore be an indication that these systems are close to a metal-insulator transition, an hypothesis sustained by the very low metallic volume fractions $`v`$ in TFRs and the observation that the conductance $`G`$ follows a power law behavior $`G(vv_c)^t`$, where $`v_c`$ is the critical volume fraction and $`t`$ is a critical exponent.

The aim of this paper is to study further the problem of piezoresistive response in random resistor networks by focusing on the equivalence between transport in anisotropic networks and the piezoresistive response of isotropic ones. Close to the percolation thresold, the two systems are equivalent in the sense that transport is governed by the same critical exponents. In addition we consider also the effect of random bond orientations and provide explicit formulas from which it is possible to extract the piezoresistive anisotropy.

## II piezoresistive anisotropy of random resistor networks

In this section, we describe in full generality how to extract from a random resistor network model the relevant piezoresistive coefficients. Although real materials like TFRs are quite complex from the point of view of both microscopic electronic processes and microstructure, we believe that the essential physics of the piezoresistive response is already contained in our simplified model. Possible limitations of our approach are however discussed in Sec.IV.

In common piezoresistive measurements, the sample is subjected to a geometrical distortion characterized by a strain field with coefficients $`\epsilon _{ii}`$ ($`i=x,y,z`$) and the piezoresistive response is obtained by recording the change of resistance (conductance) under the effect of $`\epsilon _{ii}`$. In the following, we shall consider only situations in which the shearing strains can be neglected, so that $`\epsilon _{ij}=0`$ for $`ij`$. In the absence of imposed strains, we assume that the sample is isotropic and characterized by a conductance $`G`$. Hence, under the effect of $`\epsilon _{ii}`$, the conductance for a voltage drop in the $`i`$ direction changes to $`G_i=G+\delta G_i`$, where the variation $`\delta G_i`$ can be expressed in terms of the conductivity change $`\delta \sigma _i`$ and a geometric factor:

$$\frac{\delta G_i}{G}=\frac{\delta \sigma _i}{\sigma }\epsilon _{ii}+\epsilon _{jj}+\epsilon _{kk},$$
(3)
where $`\sigma `$ is the conductivity for the unstrained sample and the indexes $`i`$, $`j`$, and $`k`$ assume the values $`x`$, $`y`$, and $`z`$ with cyclic permutations.

We are interested on the intrinsic conductivity change $`\delta \sigma _i`$ which is governed by the microscopic electronic processes taking place in the bulk. In agreement with the empirical relation Eq.(2), we assume that bulk transport is mainly governed by tunneling processes between metallic grains and we consider a cubic random-resistor network whose unstrained bond conductances are either proportional to $`\mathrm{exp}(2d/\xi )`$, where $`d`$ is the distance between two neighbouring sites, or zero. The probability of having zero bond conductance can be independent of the particular bond considered, as in bond percolation models, or correlated, as in site percolation models. The following considerations apply also for more complicated distributions, like the ones arising in segregated site percolation models where all the sites within spheres of a given radius centered at random are excluded from the network, or when the non-zero bond conductances have some distribution of tunneling probability.

To model the effect of the applied strain, let us assume that the resistor network is embedded in a homogeneous elastic medium and that the elastic coefficients of the network and the medium are equal. Moreover we assume also that the directions of the bonds in the network are aligned to the $`x`$, $`y`$, and $`z`$ axes. Therefore, in general, when a strain field $`\epsilon _{ii}`$ is applied on the sample, the conducting bonds change their values according to their orientation with respect to $`\epsilon _{ii}`$. For example, the tunneling distance for a bond directed along the $`i`$ axis changes to $`dd_i=d(1+\epsilon _{ii})`$ which, up to the first order in $`\epsilon _{ii}`$, implies a bond conductance change

$$\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{2d}{\xi }\right)\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{2d_i}{\xi }\right)=\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{2d}{\xi }\right)\left(1+\frac{2d}{\xi }\epsilon _{ii}\right).$$
(4)
Now if we consider an uniaxial strain along, for example, the $`x`$ direction ($`\epsilon _{xx}=\epsilon `$, $`\epsilon _{yy}=\epsilon _{zz}=0`$), thus the bond conductances directed along $`i=x`$ are modified according to Eq.(4), while those directed along the $`y`$ and $`z`$ axes remain unchanged. Therefore, up to first order in $`\epsilon `$, the resulting conductivities can be expressed as $`\sigma _x=\sigma \sigma \mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\epsilon `$, and $`\sigma _y=\sigma _z=\sigma \sigma \mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\epsilon `$, where we have defined

$`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\delta \sigma _x}{\epsilon \sigma }},`$ (5)
$`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\delta \sigma _y}{\epsilon \sigma }}={\displaystyle \frac{\delta \sigma _z}{\epsilon \sigma }},`$ (6)
as the longitudinal and transverse piezoresistive coefficients, respectively. The above reasoning holds true also for uniaxial strains along the $`y`$ and the $`z`$ axis and, since the problem is linear, for a general strain field $`\epsilon _{ii}`$ ($`i=x,y,z`$) the conductivity variations $`\delta \sigma _i`$ reduce to:

$$\frac{\delta \sigma _i}{\sigma }=\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\epsilon _{ii}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}(\epsilon _{jj}+\epsilon _{kk}).$$
(7)
As already pointed out in the introduction, the commonly measured quantities used to extract the strain sensitivity of the sample are the piezoresistive gauge factors which for a general strain are defined as:

$$K_{ij}=\frac{\delta G_i}{\epsilon _{jj}G}.$$
(8)
If we assume that the strains $`\epsilon _{ii}`$ are known, then Eqs.(3,7) permit to express the different gauge factors $`K_{ij}`$ in terms only of the two intrinsic piezoresistive coefficients $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$. For example, in a typical cantilever bar experiment with the cantilever main axis directed along the $`x`$ direction, the strains are approximatively $`\epsilon _{xx}=\epsilon `$, $`\epsilon _{yy}=\nu \epsilon `$, and $`\epsilon _{zz}=\nu ^{}\epsilon `$, where $`\nu `$ and $`\nu ^{}`$ are the Poisson ratios of the cantilever and the resistive sample, respectively. By using Eqs.(3,7), the longitudinal ($`K_\mathrm{L}`$) and transverse (KT) piezoresistive gauge factors are:

$`K_\mathrm{L}K_{xx}`$ $`=`$ $`(1+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{})+(1\mathrm{\Gamma }_{})(\nu +\nu ^{}),`$ (9)
$`K_\mathrm{T}K_{yx}`$ $`=`$ $`(1+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{})\nu (1\mathrm{\Gamma }_{})(1\nu ^{}).`$ (10)
From a measurement of $`K_\mathrm{L}`$ and $`K_\mathrm{T}`$, the above expressions permit to extract $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ which are intrinsic quantities, i. e. they do not depend on the particular strain applied. Note that instead of measuring $`K_\mathrm{L}`$ and $`K_\mathrm{T}`$, the piezoresistive coefficients can also be extracted from Eqs.(3,7) by measuring a gauge factor under two different imposed strains. For example, as in Ref., a cantilever bar measurement provides a first value of $`K_\mathrm{L}`$, Eq.(9), and a successive measurement of the longitudinal gauge factor under hydrostatic pressure provides a second value of $`K_\mathrm{L}`$. These two values are then sufficient to extract $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$.

The importance of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ resides on the fact that they permit to extract useful informations on the percolative nature of transport. To illustrate this point, we show in Fig. 1 the results of numerical Monte Carlo calculations of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ (filled circles) for a site percolation model in which a concentration of sites $`x`$ is removed at random. For each missing site the bond conductances connecting the six neighbouring sites are set equal to zero, while the remaining bonds have conductance $`\mathrm{exp}(2d/\xi )`$ with $`2d/\xi =4`$ when unstrained. Note that in this model, the fraction of conducting bonds $`p`$ is equal to $`x^2`$, since a bond is present only if the sites at both ends are present. We calculate the total conductance by solving numerically the Kirchhoff equations for all the nodes of the cubic network. In practice, we impose a unit voltage difference between two opposite sides of the network with periodic boundary conditions to the remaining sides. The piezoresistive coefficient $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$) is then obtained by calculating, for a fixed configurations of bond resistors, the difference in conductance when $`\epsilon =0`$ and $`\epsilon =0.01`$ for strain directed parallel (ortogonal) to the imposed voltage drop direction.

When there are no missing sites ($`x=1`$, $`p=1`$), the current flows exclusively along paths directed along the direction of the voltage drop. In this case, the longitudinal piezoresistive coefficient is $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}=2d/\xi =4`$ while the transverse one $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ is zero \[see Eqs.(5,6)\]. When sites are removed ($`x<1`$), $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ gets reduced and at the same time the transverse coefficient is enhanced in such a way that $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}>\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$. This behavior is due to the fact that as sites are removed from the network, the missing bonds force the current to flow also along directions perpendicular to the voltage drop. Hence, when the strain is along the voltage drop, the current visits also regions where instead the bonds are unstrained (reduction of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$) while when the voltage drop is perpendicular to the direction of $`\epsilon `$, the current is influenced also by regions where the bonds are strained (enhancement of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$). This trend gets amplified as $`x`$ is further reduced and at the percolation thresold ($`p_c=x_c^20.098`$) $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$. Qualitatively, this behavior is observed also when the bond conductances have some distribution or when different statistics like that of bond percolation models are considered. Hence, as a general rule, the longitudinal and transverse piezoresistive coefficients become equal as the random resistor network reaches its percolation thresold.

In relation to the gauge factors $`K_\mathrm{L}`$ and $`K_\mathrm{T}`$, it is worth to point out that, from Eqs.(9,10), $`K_\mathrm{L}K_\mathrm{T}=(\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}+2)(1+\nu )`$ in accord with Ref.. However, since $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}>\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ for $`p_c<p1`$, it is not justified to assume $`K_\mathrm{L}K_\mathrm{T}=2(1+\nu )`$, unless the system is very close to its percolation thresold. Instead a more general relation is $`K_\mathrm{L}K_\mathrm{T}2(1+\nu )`$, which holds true in the whole range of $`pp_c`$ values.

Summarizing the results of Fig.1, in the presence of an external uniaxial strain, the network is anisotropic when $`p1`$ while is electrically quasi-isotropic when $`pp_c`$. The metal-to-insulator transition can therefore be viewed also as a piezoresistive anisotropic-to-isotropic transition when $`pp_c`$. We call the quantity which characterizes this transition the piezoresistive anisotropy factor $`\chi `$, defined as:

$$\chi =\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}}{\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}}.$$
(11)
As shown in Fig. 2, $`\chi `$ (filled circles) is equal to the unity for $`p=1`$ while it decreases monotonically as the system moves towards its percolation thresold and, as shown in log-log plot of the inset of Fig.2, $`\chi `$ goes to zero by following a power law behavior in the critical region $`(pp_c)1`$:

$$\chi (pp_c)^\lambda ,$$
(12)
where $`\lambda `$ is a critical exponent. A fit of the numerical data of Fig.2 to Eq.(12) leads to $`\lambda =0.44\pm 0.07`$. We have tested that Eq.(12) holds true also for bond percolation models and for conducting bonds having a distribution of tunneling probability.

The power law behavior of Eq.(12) is directly related to the transport properties of anisotropic bond percolation models studied some time ago. In those works, percolating networks with random bond conductances were defined in such a way that the conducting bonds were equal along two directions, for example $`y`$ and $`z`$, but different from those along the third direction, that is $`x`$. Topological considerations, renormalization group analysis, and numerical calculations showed that the quantity $`\sigma _y/\sigma _x1=\alpha (p)`$ has a power law behavior $`\alpha (p)(pp_c)^\lambda ^{}`$ close to the percolation thresold, independently of the microscopic bond anisotropy. In our model, bond anisotropy is induced by the effect of an applied strain, Eq.(4), so that the two situations are equivalent. It is in fact easy to see from Eqs.(5,6) that for our piezoresistive model $`\sigma _y/\sigma _x1(\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{})\epsilon \chi `$, so that the two exponents $`\lambda `$ and $`\lambda ^{}`$ are equal. Since the exponent $`\lambda `$ does not depend on the anisotropy of the microscopic bond conductances, a measurement of the piezoresistive anisotropy factor $`\chi `$ is in principle a practical and alternative way to study the role of anisotropy in percolative conductors.

In relation to TFRs, a measurement of the piezoresistive anisotropy factor $`\chi `$ as a function of metallic volume concentration would be an useful tool to characterize their transport properties. The advantage of $`\chi `$ over other quantities like for example $`K_\mathrm{L}K_\mathrm{T}`$ is that it measures the anisotropy without being seriously influenced by other factors like the change of tunneling distances with the metallic concentration x. By lowering $`x`$ in fact the mean distance between metallic granules should increase leading to an enhancement of the tunneling distance $`d`$. This situation can be modeled by assuming that $`d`$ is some function of the bond probability $`p`$, $`d(p)=df(p)`$, where $`f(p)`$ increases as $`p`$ is reduced and is independent of strain. It is easy to see that, if the unstrained conducting bonds have conductance $`\mathrm{exp}(2d/\xi )=\mathrm{exp}(2df(p)/\xi )`$, then the longitudinal and transverse piezoresistive coefficients get multiplied by $`f(p)`$. This factor exactly cancels out in the definition of $`\chi `$, Eq.(11).

Let us conclude this section by pointing out a relation between conductance and piezoresisitve response different from Eq.(1). As already pointed out in the introduction, TFRs should be quite close to a metal-insulator transition, since the volume concentration is small and the conductance $`G`$ shows a power law behavior. Hence, if TFRs are actually in the critical regime, then as a function of metallic concentration the piezoresistive anisotropy factor should follow Eq.(12) and consequently:

$$G\chi ^{\lambda /t}=\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}}{\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}}\right)^{\lambda /t},$$
(13)
where $`t`$ is the critical exponent of the unstrained conductance $`G(pp_c)^t`$.

## III Average over bond orientations

Equation (7) of the last section has been obtained by assuming that the bond directions are aligned parallel to the $`x`$, $`y`$, and $`z`$ axes of an ortogonal frame. In this way, under the effect of an applied strain $`\epsilon _{ii}`$, the conducting bonds change according to the simple relation of Eq.(4). In this section we generalize Eq.(7) in order to describe networks with bonds oriented at random with respect to the reference frame. As already pointed out in the introduction, we expect that in this more realistic situation the longitudinal and transverse piezoresistive responses should be different from those obtained for the oriented network, at least for $`p1`$.

Instead of studying a network with bond directions changing from site to site, we consider an ensemble of perfectly cubic networks oriented at random. The piezoresistive responses will then be obtained by averaging over all network orientations. We start by choosing the three bond directions of the cubic network as oriented along the $`x^{}`$, $`y^{}`$, and $`z^{}`$ axes which constitute an orthogonal frame $`A^{}`$ rotated by $`\widehat{R}`$ with respect to the reference frame $`A`$ specified by the $`x`$, $`y`$, and $`z`$ axes. The rotation matrix $`\widehat{R}`$ is given by the triple product of successive rotations defined by Euler angles. To fix an explicit rotation matrix, let us consider a $`z`$-$`x`$-$`z`$ transformation given by a rotation of angle $`\varphi `$ around the $`z`$-axis, followed by rotations of $`\theta `$ and $`\psi `$ around the the new $`x`$ and $`z`$ axes, respectively. With this choice of angles, $`\theta `$ can take values from $`0`$ to $`\pi `$, while $`\varphi `$ and $`\psi `$ from $`0`$ to $`2\pi `$. By using the usual rules of strain transformations, the strains $`\epsilon _{ij}^{}`$ in reference frame $`A^{}`$ are given by:

$$\epsilon _{ij}^{}=\underset{l}{}R_{il}R_{jl}\epsilon _{ll},$$
(14)
where $`R_{ij}`$ are elements of the matrix $`\widehat{R}`$ and, as before, we have neglected the shearing strains with respect to frame $`A`$. Now, let us consider in the absence of strains a conducting bond directed along the $`x^{}`$ direction having tunneling length $`d_x^{}=d`$. Under the effect of Eq.(14), the bond length changes to

$`\sqrt{(d+\delta d_x^{})^2+(\delta d_y^{})^2+(\delta d_z^{})^2}`$ (15)
$`=d\sqrt{(1+\epsilon _{xx}^{})^2+(\epsilon _{xy}^{})^2+(\epsilon _{xz}^{})^2}`$ (16)
$`=d(1+\epsilon _{xx}^{})+𝒪(\epsilon _{xx}^{})+𝒪(\epsilon _{yy}^{})+𝒪(\epsilon _{zz}^{}),`$ (17)
where $`\delta d_i^{}`$ is the variation of length along the $`i^{}=x^{},y^{},z^{}`$ axis. Compared to $`\epsilon _{xx}^{}`$, the effect of the shearing strains $`\epsilon _{xy}^{}`$ and $`\epsilon _{xz}^{}`$ is therefore of higher order and can be neglected. Hence for a bond along the $`i^{}`$ direction the bond tunneling length changes simply to $`dd_i^{}=d(1+\epsilon _{ii}^{})`$. At this point, with respect to the $`A^{}`$ frame, we can follow the same reasonings of last section so that the conductivity changes are of the same form of Eq.(7):

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\delta \sigma _i^{}}{\sigma }}`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\epsilon _{ii}^{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}(\epsilon _{jj}^{}+\epsilon _{kk}^{})`$ (18)
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\mathrm{\Delta }+(\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{})\epsilon _{ii}^{},`$ (19)
where $`\delta \sigma _i^{}`$ is the variation of conductivity $`\sigma _i^{}`$ in the $`A^{}`$ frame and we have introduced for later convenience the volume dilatation $`\mathrm{\Delta }=_j\epsilon _{jj}^{}`$.

Now, the local Ohm law is $`j_i^{}=\sigma _i^{}E_i^{}`$, where $`j_i^{}`$ and $`E_i^{}`$ are the components with respect to $`A^{}`$ of the current density and the electric field, respectively. These are related to the corresponding quantities in frame $`A`$ by $`j_i^{}=_jR_{ij}j_j`$ and $`E_i^{}=_jR_{ij}E_j`$, so that $`j_i=\sigma _{ij}E_j`$ where:

$$\sigma _{ij}=\underset{l}{}R_{il}^1\sigma _l^{}R_{lj}.$$
(20)
Since the dilatation $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is invariant under rotation, equation (20) reduces to:

$`\sigma _{ij}`$ $`=`$ $`\delta _{ij}\sigma +R_{il}^1\delta \sigma _l^{}R_{lj}`$ (21)
$`=`$ $`\delta _{ij}\sigma (1\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\mathrm{\Delta })+\sigma (\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{})R_{il}^1\epsilon _{ll}^{}R_{lj},`$ (22)
where we have used Eq.(19) and $`\delta _{ij}`$ is the Kronecker delta symbol. Finally, the average over the ensemble of networks with different bond orientations is achieved by performing the average over the angles $`\theta `$, $`\varphi `$, and $`\psi `$ appearing in $`\widehat{R}`$. For a general function $`f(\theta ,\varphi ,\psi )`$, this is achieved by

$`f`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{_0^\pi 𝑑\theta _0^{2\pi }𝑑\varphi _0^{2\pi }𝑑\psi J(\widehat{R})f(\theta ,\varphi ,\psi )}{_0^\pi 𝑑\theta _0^{2\pi }𝑑\varphi _0^{2\pi }𝑑\psi J(\widehat{R})}}`$ (23)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle _0^\pi }𝑑\theta {\displaystyle _0^{2\pi }}𝑑\varphi {\displaystyle _0^{2\pi }}𝑑\psi \mathrm{sin}(\theta )f(\theta ,\varphi ,\psi ),`$ (24)
where $`J(\widehat{R})=\mathrm{sin}(\theta )/8`$ is the Jacobian of $`\widehat{R}`$. It is easy to see that when $`\epsilon _{ll}^{}`$ in Eq.(21) are replaced by Eq.(14), all the off-diagonal components of $`\sigma _{ij}`$ vanish under angle integrations, $`\sigma _{ij}=\delta _{ij}\sigma _i`$, and that the averaged conductance variations $`\delta \sigma _i=\sigma _i\sigma `$ reduce to:

$$\frac{\delta \sigma _i}{\sigma }=\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\mathrm{\Delta }+(\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{})\frac{3\epsilon _{ii}+\epsilon _{jj}+\epsilon _{kk}}{5}.$$
(25)
By using $`\mathrm{\Delta }=_j\epsilon _{jj}`$, this expression can be recast in a form more similar to Eq.(7):

$$\frac{\delta \sigma _i}{\sigma }=\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{}\epsilon _{ii}\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{}(\epsilon _{jj}+\epsilon _{kk}),$$
(26)
where we have introduced the effective longitudinal and transverse piezoresistive coefficients

$`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{3\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}+2\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}}{5}},`$ (27)
$`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}+4\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}}{5}}.`$ (28)
If all bonds are present and have all equal conductances $`\mathrm{exp}(2d/\xi )`$, then from the above equations we obtain $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{}=3\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}/5`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{}=\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}/5`$, since $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}=0`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}=2d/\xi `$. Therefore, as expected, with respect to a network with bonds oriented along the $`x`$, $`y`$, and $`z`$ axes, the longitudinal response is diminished and the transverse one is enhanced. On the other hand when the network approaches to its percolation thresold, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$, also the effective responses become equal $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{}\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{}`$. This behavior is summarized in Fig. 1 where the open circles refer to $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{}`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{}`$ obtained from the corresponding coefficients for the oriented network via Eqs.(27,28).

The effect of averaging over all network orientations is therefore substantial away from the critical region and unimportant when $`pp_c1`$. This reflects the universality of the piezoresistive response close the metal-insulator transition which is more evident in the behavior of the effective piezoresistive anisotropy factor

$$\stackrel{~}{\chi }=\frac{\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{}\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{}}{\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{}}=\frac{2\chi }{3+2(1\chi )},$$
(29)
which, according to Eq.(12), shows the power law behavior $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }2\chi /5(pp_c)^\lambda `$ for $`pp_c1`$ (open circles of Fig. 2).

## IV Discussion and conclusions

In the previous sections, we have shown how to extract the intrinsic piezoresistive responses $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ of a granular metal from the knowledge of the gauge factors and the values of applied strains. The so-obtained longitudinal and transverse coefficients permit to define a piezoresistive anisotropy factor $`\chi `$, Eq.(11), which follows a power law behavior if the system is sufficiently close to its percolation thresold. Concerning the properties of TFRs, a measurement of $`\chi `$ as a function of the volume fraction could be a useful tool to investigate the closeness to a metal-insulator transition. We have also considered the effect of random bond orientations by employing an average procedure over an ensemble of networks with different orientation. This scheme has permitted us to obtain a straightforward and simple generalization of the results obtained for networks with fixed orientations. Unfortunately, we are not aware of published data from which it is possible to extract the piezoresistive coefficients as a function of metallic concentrations, so our predictions cannot yet be tested. We hope that the present study will encourage acquisition of data capable of estimating $`\chi `$ as a function of metallic concentrations.

Before concluding, it is useful to remind possible limitations of the theory presented in this work. First of all, all through the previous analysis we have assumed that the granular metal is elastically homogeneous, so that the strain values inside the bulk can be considered as independent of the position. However, TFRs are strongly heterogeneous composites in which quite stiff metallic granules are embedded in an elastically soft glassy matrix. This gives rise to important fluctuations in the local values of the strain. Since the microscopic tunneling processes are affected by the local rather than the macroscopical strain values, such an elastic heterogeneity can influence the piezoresistive response in an important way. However, this effect influences the absolute values of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$, but should leave the piezoresistive anisotropy factor $`\chi `$ relatively unaffected. This is indeed confirmed by the analysis of a simplified model of elastic heterogeneity in TFRs, from which actually it results that $`(\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{})/\mathrm{\Gamma }_{}`$ is independent of the metal and glass elastic coefficients. This is of course only a preliminary result which needs further investigations.

Another basic assumption of our analysis has been the use of a simple tunneling form for the intergrain hopping. For TFRs, which show a quite weak temperature dependence of resistivity, this should not be a too serious approximation, and simple tunneling captures the essential physics, at least as regards piezoresistance effects. For other granular metals, or for TFRs at very low temperatures, other processes than intergrain tunneling (grain charging effects, Coulomb gap, etc.) play an active role in transport. However, as a function of metallic concentration, we do not expect qualitative deviations from the power law behavior of $`\chi `$ in the critical region. Instead, for fixed metallic concentrations, $`\chi `$ should develop a temperature dependence proportional to the importance of the other-than-tunneling contributions. For example, in the statistical description of the variable-range-hopping mechanism of Mott, the temperature governs the availability of sites energetically favourable for hopping. This is a kind of correlated bond percolation model, for which the considerations here presented apply in a straightforward way.


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# The black hole mass of BL Lac objects from the stellar velocity dispersion of the host galaxy

## 1 Introduction

The mass of the central black hole (BH) is of paramount importance in theoretical models of AGN. In particular, the dependence of BH mass ($`M_{BH}`$) on the global host galaxy properties provides clues to the role of BHs in galaxy formation and evolution. Dynamical determination of $`M_{BH}`$ in AGN is difficult, because of the bright emission from the nucleus. The main method that has proved to be successful for AGN is reverberation mapping of broad emission lines, which is extremely time consuming and gives results on $`M_{BH}`$ that depend on the assumed geometry of the accretion disk. Therefore, only for a few well studied quasars and Seyfert galaxies $`M_{BH}`$ is known (see e.g. Kaspi et al. 2000; Nelson 2000; Wandel 2002 and references therein). Reverberation mapping cannot be employed for BL Lac objects because they lack prominent broad emission lines, therefore other methods need to be applied. The discovery of a correlation between $`M_{BH}`$ and the luminosity of the bulge in nearby early-type galaxies (e.g. Magorrian et al. 1998) offered a new tool for evaluating $`M_{BH}`$ (see the recent reviews by Merritt & Ferrarese 2001 \[hereafter MF01\]; Kormendy & Gebhardt 2001). This correlation has been applied so far for a sample of nearby quasars (McLure & Dunlop 2001) and BL Lacs (Treves et al. 2001).

Recently, a stricter correlation was found relating $`M_{BH}`$ with the stellar velocity dispersion $`\sigma `$ of the spheroidal component in nearby inactive galaxies (Gebhardt et al. 2000; Ferrarese & Merritt 2000). This relationship clearly demonstrates a connection between BHs and bulges of galaxies and has spurred a substantial effort in theoretical modelling (e.g. Silk & Rees 1998; Hähnelt & Kauffmann 2000; Adams, Graff & Richstone 2001). The relationship appears to predict more accurately $`M_{BH}`$, but requires the measurement of $`\sigma `$ in the host galaxies of AGN that is difficult to obtain, in particular for objects at moderate or high redshift and with very luminous nuclei. On the other hand, BL Lacs have relatively fainter nuclei than quasars (e.g. Falomo et al. 1999), and for them this measurement (at least for low redshift objects) can be secured with a single spectrum observable with a medium-sized telescope.

We present here medium resolution optical spectroscopy of the host galaxies of 7 BL Lac objects from which we derive the stellar velocity dispersion. According to the shape of their spectral energy distribution (SED), BL Lacs are broadly distinguished into two types (see Giommi & Padovani 1995) : those whose SED peaks at near-infrared/optical and the $`\gamma `$-ray MeV regions (low frequency peaked BL Lacs or LBL), and those that have SED peaking in the UV/X-ray and the $`\gamma `$-ray TeV energies (called high frequency peaked BL Lacs or HBL). Our selection of nearby (z $`<`$ 0.2) BL Lacs includes 5 HBL and 2 LBL. For all observed targets high quality images have been obtained either from the ground (Falomo & Kotilainen 1999) or with HST + WFPC2 (Urry et al. 2000; Falomo et al. 2000). From these images, the characterization of the host galaxies and the nuclear luminosity can be obtained.

## 2 Observations and data analysis

The observations were obtained in June 2001 using the 2.5m Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) equipped with ALFOSC111See URL http://www.not.iac.es for instrument characteristics. Spectra were secured using two grisms to cover the spectral ranges 4800 – 5800 Å (setup A) and 5700 – 8000 Å (setup B) at 0.54 Å pixel-1 and 1.3 Å pixel-1 dispersion, respectively. This allows us to measure the absorption lines of H$`\beta `$ (4861 Å), Mg I (5175 Å), Ca E-band (5269 Å), Na I (5892 Å) and the TiO + CaI (6178 Å), TiO + FeI (6266 Å) and other absorption line blends from the host galaxies at a spectral resolution R $``$3000.

The chosen grisms combined with a 1″ slit yield a spectral resolution for velocity dispersion measurement of $``$60 – 80 km s-1, which is adequate for the expected range of $`\sigma `$ in luminous ellipticals (e.g. Djorgovski & Davis 1987; Bender, Burstein & Faber 1992) such as the hosts of BL Lacs. In addition to the spectra of the BL Lac hosts, we acquired spectra of bright stars of type G8-III to K1-III, that exhibit a low rotational velocity (V$`\times `$$`\mathrm{sin}(i)<`$ 20 km$`s^1`$). These are used as templates of zero velocity dispersion. Furthermore, spectra of the well studied nearby elliptical galaxy NGC 5831 were also secured in order to provide a test of the adopted procedure to derive $`\sigma `$.

During the observations, seeing ranged between 1″ and 1.5″. The targets were centered into the slit or positioned 1″ away from the nucleus and then the 1D spectrum was extracted from an aperture of 3″ - 5″ diameter, which is in all cases within the effective radius of the host galaxy. In one case (Mkn 180), spectra with the object both centered into the slit and off-centered by 1″ were taken but no significant difference was apparent in the shape of the spectral features. Standard data reduction was applied to the spectra using the tasks available in the IRAF222IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which are operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. package. The procedure includes bias subtraction, flat-fielding, wavelength calibration and extraction of 1D spectra. For each observation, we took two spectra and combined them in order to remove cosmic ray hits and other occasional spurious signals in the detector. In Table 1 we report the list of our targets together with the instrumental setup and the S/N of each spectrum derived from the continuum in the middle of the observed spectral range.

The stellar velocity dispersion $`\sigma `$ was determined using the Fourier Quotient method (e.g. Sargent et al. 1977) implemented in the IRAF STSDAS package. The spectra were first normalized by subtracting the continuum, converted to a logarithmic scale and then multiplied by a cosine bell function that apodizes 10% of the pixels at each end of the spectrum. Finally, the Fourier Transform of the galaxy spectra was divided by the Fourier Transform of template stars and $`\sigma `$ was computed from a $`\chi ^2`$ fit with a Gaussian broadening function (see Bertola et al. 1984; Kuijken & Merrifield 1993 for further details on this method). The $`r.m.s.`$ scatter of the $`\sigma `$ results using different template stars was typically $``$10 km$`s^1`$ and can be considered as the minimum uncertainty of the measurement. The observed values of $`\sigma `$ and their estimated errors are reported in the last column of Table 1.

For three objects we have spectra in both spectral ranges. The resulting stellar velocity dispersions are in all cases in good agreement, with average difference 12 km s-1, ensuring sufficient homogeneity of data taken with different grisms and/or resolution. Note, however, that there is a tendency for the red grism (lower resolution) data to result in slightly larger value of $`\sigma `$. For the nearby elliptical NGC 5831 we obtained $`\sigma `$ = 167$`\pm `$5 and 185$`\pm `$10 km s-1 for the setup A and B, respectively. These values are in good agreement with previous measurements in the literature ($`<\sigma >`$ = 168 km s-1; Prugniel et al. 1998). In Fig. 1 we show an example of the spectrum of the BL Lac object Mrk 501 compared with that of the elliptical galaxy NGC 5831 observed in both spectral ranges.

Since early-type galaxies exhibit some gradients in velocity dispersion (Davies et al. 1983; Fisher, Illingworth & Franx 1995), the measured value of $`\sigma `$ depends somewhat on the distances of the galaxies and the size of the used aperture. In order to compare our values of $`\sigma `$ with the data available in literature (in particular with the MF01 relationship), we applied aperture corrections according to the procedure given in Jörgensen, Franx & Kjaergaard (1995). The individual measurements of $`\sigma `$ are therefore corrected to a circular aperture with a metric diameter of 1.19$`h^1`$ kpc, equivalent to 3.4″ at the distance of the Coma cluster to derive central velocity dispersion $`\sigma _c`$, given in column 3 of Table 2. When measurements of $`\sigma `$ in two spectral ranges are available, the average is reported.

No previous systematic study of the stellar velocity dispersion in BL Lacs is available although recently Barth, Ho & Sargent (2002) report optical spectroscopy for Mrk 501. These authors measured a value of $`\sigma `$ = 372$`\pm `$18 km s-1 which differs significantly from ours ($`\sigma `$ = 291$`\pm `$13 km s-1). Their measurement of $`\sigma `$, derived from the region 5200 - 5600 Å, could be reconciled with our value, given their large scatter (81 km s-1) fitting the data in this range. On the other hand the higher $`\sigma `$ value obtained from the Ca II triplet lines (8498, 8542 and 8662 Å), that are partly blended with telluric absorptions, appears inconsistent with our value within the estimated errors. Applying aperture correction to the value of Barth et al the difference of $`sigma`$ becomes even larger (by $``$ 15 km s-1).

## 3 Results and discussion

We have adopted the relationship between $`M_{BH}`$ and $`\sigma _c`$ found for nearby early-type galaxies that is based on optical spectroscopy (MF01):

$`M_{BH}`$ = 1.48$`\pm `$0.24 $`\times `$ 108 ($`\sigma `$/200)4.65±0.48 \[M\] (1)

We assume that this relationship is also valid for AGN (see e.g. MF01) and in particular for BL Lacs. This is consistent with our imaging studies of BL Lacs (Falomo & Kotilainen 1999; Urry et al. 2000; Falomo et al 2000), indicating that all our objects are hosted by luminous ellipticals. The derived values of $`M_{BH}`$ are reported in column 4 of Table 2, where the errors are the composition in quadrature of uncertainties in $`\sigma `$ and in the MF01 relationship. Using the Gebhardt et al. (2000) relationship instead of the one by MF01, tends to yield slightly lower values of $`M_{BH}`$ but does not substantially modify our main conclusions. The values of $`M_{BH}`$ in Table 2 span a factor $``$20 from 5 x 107 M for PKS 2201+04 to 9 x 108 M for Mrk 501.

As mentioned above, $`M_{BH}`$ is also correlated, but with a larger scatter, with the luminosity of the bulge of the host galaxy. The host galaxy absolute magnitude MR (uncorrected for extinction) and the effective radii Re of the 7 BL Lacs are given in columns 5 and 6 of Table 2. $`M_{BH}`$ was thus calculated following the relationship by McLure & Dunlop (2002):

log $`M_{BH}`$ = –0.50$`\pm `$0.05 MR – 2.91$`\pm `$1.23 \[M\] (2)

The corresponding values of $`M_{BH}`$ are given in column 7 of Table 2. For most sources the difference of $`M_{BH}`$ derived with the two methods is within the estimated uncertainty. The average values of $`M_{BH}`$ for our BL Lacs derived, respectively, from $`\sigma `$ and the host luminosity are: $`<`$log$`M_{BH}>_\sigma `$ = 8.62 $`\pm `$ 0.23 and $`<`$log$`M_{BH}>_{host}`$ = 8.66 $`\pm `$ 0.25.

In two cases (I Zw 187 and PKS 2201+04) a factor of $``$3 difference in $`M_{BH}`$ is found. We note that for PKS 2201+04 we derive a significantly lower velocity dispersion with respect to the rest of the observed sources leading to a low $`M_{BH}`$. On the other hand, for this target $`\sigma `$ is well determined (good S/N data and the two spectral ranges giving similar result).

In our sample there are two LBL type and five HBL type BL Lacs (column 2 of Table 2). With the caveat that the number of studied objects is very small, we find no significant difference of $`M_{BH}`$ between the two types of BL Lacs.

The measurements of $`\sigma `$ combined with the effective radii of the host galaxies can be used to estimate the mass of the hosts through the relationship (Bender et al. 1992) :

$`M_{host}`$=5$`\sigma ^2r_e`$/G (3)

This dynamical mass (column 8 of Table 2) turns out to be in the range of 1 – 4 x 1011 M. The ratio between $`M_{BH}`$ and $`M_{host}`$ is in the range of 0.5 – 3.6 $`\times `$ 10-3, with $`<M_{BH}`$/$`M_{host}>`$ = 1.4 $`\times `$ 10-3. This is in good agreement with values derived for both AGN and inactive galaxies ($`<M_{BH}`$/$`M_{host}>`$ = 1.2 $`\times `$ 10-3 ; McLure & Dunlop 2001; MF01).

In the unified model of radio-loud AGN, BL Lacs are believed to be drawn from the population of radio galaxies according to orientation effects (e.g. Urry 1999). It is therefore interesting to compare orientation-independent properties, such as the velocity dispersion of the host galaxy, of BL Lac and radio galaxy populations. We show in Fig. 2 the comparison of the host luminosity MR vs. log$`\sigma `$ (the Faber-Jackson relationship) for the BL Lacs with respect to a large sample of low redshift radio galaxies (Bettoni et al. 2001). Both samples follow quite well the original Faber & Jackson (1976) correlation. The similarity of the distributions of $`\sigma `$ for these two samples (Fig. 3) furthermore implies that the distributions of $`M_{BH}`$ in radio galaxies and BL Lacs are indistinguishable, consistent with the model that both types of AGN belong to the same population but are observed from different orientation angles.

We thank D. Bettoni for helpful discussions and suggestions on the measurements of the velocity dispersion. This work has received partial support under contracts COFIN 2001/028773 and ASI-IR-35. Nordic Optical Telescope is operated on the island of La Palma jointly by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. We thank the NOT staff for kind hospitality and support. The data presented here have been taken using ALFOSC, which is owned by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (IAA) and operated at the Nordic Optical Telescope under agreement between IAA and the NBIfAFG of the Astronomical Observatory of Copenhagen.


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# Maxwell’s Demon and the Thermodynamics of Computation

## 1 Introduction

Maxwell first introduced the demon in a letter to Tait (dated December 11, 1867; see , p. 214) and repeated the demon argument in his 1871 treatise, Theory of Heat. He imagined a being capable of monitoring the positions and velocities of the individual molecules in a container of air at uniform temperature, divided into two chambers by a partition with a small aperture. While the mean velocity of the air molecules is uniform, the velocities of the individual molecules vary. The demon opens and closes the aperture so as to allow the faster molecules to move to one chamber and the slower molecules to the other chamber. In this way the temperature of one chamber is raised and the temperature of the other chamber lowered without any work being done, contradicting the second law of thermodynamics

As Maxwell indicated in an undated letter to Tait (see , p. 5, and ), the point of the demon argument was to show that the second law ‘has only a statistical certainty.’ The question then arises whether it is possible to design a perpetual motion machine that, over time, reliably exploits statistical fluctuations to convert heat from the environment into work.

In 1912, Smoluchowski  showed that an automatic mechanism, like a spring-loaded trapdoor blocking an aperture between two chambers of a gas-filled container and capable of opening only one way, would be prevented by its own Brownian motion from functioning reliably as a one-way valve that allowed more energetic gas molecules to accumulate in one chamber over time. The trapdoor would be heated by collisions with the gas molecules and open and close randomly, and these random fluctuations in the trapdoor motion would allow a molecule to pass from the hotter chamber to the colder chamber as often as a molecule pushes past the trapdoor from the colder chamber to the hotter chamber. So such a device could not function as a perpetual motion machine capable of converting heat from the environment into work. In other words, a purely mechanical Maxwell’s demon is impossible.

In his seminal article , Szilard cites Smoluchowski (, p. 89):

> As far as we know today, there is no automatic, permanently effective perpetual motion machine, in spite of the molecuar fluctuations, but such a device might, perhaps, function regularly if it were appropriately operated by intelligent beings …

and states his objective as follows:

> The objective of the investigation is to find the conditions which apparently allow the construction of a perpetual-motion machine of the second kind, if one permits an intelligent being to intervene in a thermodynamic system.

The appropriate way to think about this question is to consider whether a mechanical demon incorporating a computer could work as a perpetual motion machine—that is, a device with information-gathering and information-processing abilities. Assuming the second law, the relevant question is: at what stage of the information-gathering or information-processing would the device fail?

The accepted position, before arguments by Landauer  and Bennett , was that there is an irreducible entropy cost to measurement. The thesis that acquiring information involves a certain entropy cost, specifically at least $`k\mathrm{log}2`$ per bit of information, was first proposed by Szilard  and elaborated by Brillouin  in terms of a model in which the demon measures the positions of the gas molecules by shining light on them.

Landauer and Bennett argued that measurement is in principle reversible and can be done without entropy cost. By contrast, they showed that there is an irreducible entropy cost to information destruction as opposed to information acquisition: resetting the memory register of a computer to zero involves an entropy cost. This result has important consequences for the thermodynamics of computation. Bennett , Fredkin , and Toffoli  showed that the most efficient computers, like Carnot engines, are reversible. It follows that the minimum energy required to carry out a computation does not depend on the complexity of the computation, but only on the number of bits of information in the output: if the output is 1 bit, one needs at least $`kT\mathrm{log}2`$ of free energy to run the computation, which is used in resetting the memory to zero.

In a recent two-part article, Earman and Norton  reject the the use of information-theoretic notions to ‘exorcise’ Maxwell’s demon as misguided. They argue that either the demon is a thermodynamic system governed by the second law, in which case no further assumptions about information and entropy are needed to save the second law from the demon, or the demon is not such a system, in which case no information-theoretic assumptions can save the second law.

Earman and Norton call ‘Szilard’s principle’ the principle that acquiring information involves a minimum entropy cost; specifically, gaining information that distinguishes between $`n`$ equally likely states dissipates a minimum entropy of $`k\mathrm{log}n`$ into the environment. ‘Landauer’s principle’ is the principle that erasing this information from a memory register involves a minimum entropy cost of $`k\mathrm{log}n`$. They reject the prevailing view that the locus of entropy dissipation required to compensate for the demon’s entropy reduction is correctly identified by Landauer’s principle not Szilard’s principle, as associated with the erasure of information in the demon’s memory not the acquisition of information. As they see it, both principles depend for their validity on the second law and are not incompatible. If the demon is a canonical thermal system, then either the process of measurement, or the process of erasing the demon’s memory, or both, will involve entropy dissipation sufficient to prevent the demon from exploiting thermal fluctuations over time to convert heat from the environment into work.

I shall argue that Earman and Norton are wrong: in principle, the process of measurement need not involve any entropy cost, but the erasure of information in the memory register of a computer cannot be achieved without a minimum entropy cost. In section 2, I briefly review some relevant observations in the thermodynamics of computation. In section 3, I discuss measurement, and in section 4, I show why resetting the memory register of computer to zero requires dissipating heat into the invironment.

## 2 The Thermodynamics of Computation

Here I review some relevant observations in the thermodynamics of computation, following the discussion in Feynman .

The fundamental principle in the thermodynamics of computation is that information should be conceived as physically embodied in the state of a physical system. So we can, for example, think of a message on a tape—a sequence of 0’s and 1’s—as represented by a sequence of boxes, in each of which there is a 1-molecule gas, where the molecule can be either in the left half of the box (representing the state 0) or the right half of the box (representing the state 1).

If we assume that the tape (the sequence of boxes) is immersed in a heat bath at constant temperature $`T`$, the amount of work, $`W`$, required to compress the gas in one of the boxes to half the original volume $`V`$ isothermally is:

$`W`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _V^{V/2}}p𝑑V`$ (1)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _V^{V/2}}{\displaystyle \frac{kT}{V}}𝑑V`$
$`=`$ $`kT(\mathrm{log}(V/2)\mathrm{log}V)`$
$`=`$ $`kT\mathrm{log}2`$
where $`p`$ is the pressure of the gas and $`k`$ is Boltzmann’s constant. (Conventionally, work done by a gas in expanding is taken as positive. The negative sign here indicates that the work is done on the gas. Concepts such as temperature and pressure for a 1-molecule gas are understood in a time-averaged sense.)

The total energy, $`U`$, of the gas is related to the free energy, $`F`$, and the entropy, $`S`$, by the equation:

$$U=F+TS$$
(2)
In an isothermal compression, the total energy of the gas remains constant, so:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }F=T\mathrm{\Delta }S$$
(3)
This represents the heat energy dumped into the environment (the heat bath) by the work done during the isothermal compression. So the entropy of the 1-molecule gas changes in this thermodynamically reversible change of state by an amount:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }S=k\mathrm{log}2$$
(4)
and the entropy of the environment is increased by $`k\mathrm{log}2`$. Equivalently, there is a change of $`kT\mathrm{log}2`$ in the free energy of the gas.

In statistical mechanics, the entropy of a system in a certain thermodynamic state is introduced as a measure of the number of microstates available to the system in the thermodynamic state. Specifically, the entropy is taken as proportional to the logarithm of the number of available microstates, with the proportionality factor $`k`$. This contrasts with the analysis of thermodynamic quantities like temperature and pressure, which are defined as statistical averages over a distribution of molecular configurations. The sense in which the entropy of a thermodynamic system is an objective property of the system is nicely captured by Jaynes in the following statement (, quoted in , p. 17):

> The entropy of a thermodynamic system is a measure of the degree of ignorance of a person whose sole knowledge about its microstate consists of the values of the macroscopic quantities $`X_i`$ which define its thermodynamic state. This is a completely ‘objective’ quantity, in the sense that it is a function only of the $`X_i`$, and does not depend on anybody’s personality. There is then no reason why it cannot be measured in a laboratory.

In terms of a statistical mechanical analysis, the kinetic energy of the 1-molecule gas is unchanged by the compression. The only change is that initially, before the compression, the molecule could be anywhere in the volume $`V`$, while after the compression the molecule is confined to the region $`V/2`$. Since the number of microstates available to the molecule in the volume $`V`$ at temperature $`T`$ is proportional to $`V`$, if the volume of the gas is halved at constant temperature, the number of available microstates is halved, because the molecule has access to only half the number of possible positions. So the entropy is decreased by an amount equal to $`k(\mathrm{log}V\mathrm{log}V/2)=k\mathrm{log}2`$.

The information in a message can be defined as proportional to the amount of free energy required to reset the entire message tape to zero, in the sense that each cell of the tape—each 1-molecule gas in a box—is compressed to half its volume, reducing the number of available microstates by half. In appropriate units (taking logarithms to the base 2), it takes 1 bit of free energy to reset each cell to a zero value.

Clearly, if we already know whether the value of a cell is 0 or 1, there is no information contained in the cell. In terms of the above definition, if the value is 0, we do nothing to reset the cell; if the value is 1 so that the molecule is in the right half of the box, we can insert a partition trapping the molecule in the right half and then turn the box over. This involves no expenditure of free energy (assuming quasi-static, frictionless motion). So it is only if we do not know whether the molecule is in the left half of the box or the right half—if the specification of the thermodynamic state of the 1-molecule gas is simply that the molecule is somewhere in the box—that free energy is required to trap the molecule in one half of the box. Evidently, it should make no difference whether the zero for the tape is defined as a sequence of 0’s or a sequence of 1’s. But this will only be the case if the reset operation is understood as a compression, to be applied to a cell irrespective of the value of the cell, that is, as an operation applied in ignorance of the whether the molecule is in the left half or the right half, after which we know where the molecule is.

## 3 Measurement

The essential feature of a measurement is that it establishes a correlation between the state of a system and the state of a memory register. Now, establishing a correlation between the states of the two systems is equivalent to a copying operation, and there is no entropy cost to copying. This can be seen as follows (, p. 155):

Suppose we have two memory registers, for definiteness two tapes, $`T_1`$ and $`T_2`$, each considered as above to consist of a sequence of boxes containing one molecule, which can be either in the left half of the box ($`L`$), representing a 0, or the right half of the box ($`R`$), representing a 1. Suppose each tape is in the same state (the same sequence of 0’s and 1’s) and we would like to reset each tape to the zero state, which we take as a sequence of 0’s.

We can use the first tape to reset the second tape as follows: If the state of the first box in $`T_1`$ is 0, do nothing to the state of the first box in $`T_2`$. If the state of the first box in $`T_1`$ is 1, insert a partition trapping the molecule in the right half of the first box of $`T_2`$ and invert the box. Continue in this way for the other boxes in the tape. We now have to reset the first tape.

It follows that the entropy cost of the reset operation for two identical tapes is the same as the cost for one tape. (There is no more information in a tape and a copy than in a single tape.) So the entropy cost of copying the first tape (seeing that these operations are reversible) must be zero. In principle, then, insofar as a measurement can simply be regarded as a copying operation, a measurement process need not involve any entropy cost, that is, it can be done without the expenditure of free energy.

Of course, there are measurement procedures—procedures for establishing correlations between systems—that will involve dissipating entropy into the environment, such as the optical procedure considered by Brillouin. But there is no requirement in principle for a mechanical Maxwell’s demon that incorporates an information processing device to use a light source to distinguish the molecules.

For a 1-molecule gas in a box, Bennett  has proposed a mechanical measurement apparatus designed to determine which half of the box the molecule is trapped in without doing any work, hence with no entropy cost (assuming frictionless forces and quasi-static motion). Earman and Norton (, pp. 13–14) object that Bennett’s apparatus would be subject the usual fluctuation phenomena, since it is a mechanical device governed by Hamiltonian mechanics and so must behave like a canonical thermal system. These fluctuations would prevent the device from functioning as a measuring instrument, for much the same reason that Smoluchowski’s trapdoor would fail to function as a sorting device.

Now, Bennett proposed his apparatus as an idealized reversible measuring device to illustrate the theoretical possibility of measuring and recording the position of a molecule without bouncing light off the molecule, and without involving any thermodynamically irreversible step. As a real apparatus, it would undoubtedly fail to work. But the argument that measurement does not have to be thermodynamically costly can be made without exhibiting a measuring instrument that does not dissipate any heat into the environment. The essential point is simply that a measurement does nothing more than establish a correlation, and so is equivalent to a copying operation.

## 4 Erasure

Consider Bennett’s entropy analysis of Szilard’s 1-molecule engine in . The apparatus consists of a box containing one molecule, with a movable piston at the left end and the right end. The box is in contact with a heat reservoir, so that the 1-molecule gas can expand isothermally against the pistons. The demon can insert a partition that separates the box into two equal parts, left ($`L`$) and right ($`R`$). Initially, the demon’s memory register is in a neutral or ready state, 0. The demon first inserts the partition and then measures the location of the molecule, whether it is in $`L`$ or $`R`$.

The phase space of the 1-molecule gas can be partitioned into two equal regions, $`L`$ and $`R`$, and the phase space of the demon’s memory register can be partitioned into three equal regions, corresponding to either $`0`$, or registering $`L`$, or registering $`R`$. This yields a partition into six equal regions for the phase space of the combined system: $`(L,L)`$, $`(L,0)`$, $`(L,R)`$, $`(R,L)`$, $`(R,0)`$, $`(R,R)`$, where the first element in each pair represents the state of the 1-molecule gas, and the second element represents the state of the memory register.

Initially, the molecule can be anywhere in the box and the memory register is set to 0, so the entropy of the combined system is $`\mathrm{log}V`$ (in appropriate units), where $`V`$ here is the volume of the phase space region $`(L,0)(R,0)`$. We assume that the insertion and removal of the partition does not involve friction and can be done without any work. After the measurement (considered as a copying operation that involves no entropy cost), the molecule can be either in $`L`$ (in which case the memory registers $`L`$) or in $`R`$ (in which case the memory registers $`R`$), so the entropy of the combined system is:

$$\mathrm{log}[(L,L)(R,R)]=\mathrm{log}V$$

The demon now pushes the piston on the side that does not contain the molecule towards the movable partition, and removes the partition when the piston reaches it. This compression phase does not involve any work, since the piston is pushed against nothing and we are assuming no friction. The entropy of the combined system after the compression phase is still $`\mathrm{log}V`$.

Next, the molecule pushes against the piston in an isothermal expansion phase, absorbing heat from the environment through the walls as it expands at constant temperature until the piston is pushed back to its original position. After the expansion, the molecule occupies the entire region of the box, and the memory registers either $`L`$ or $`R`$, so entropy of the combined system is:

$`\mathrm{log}[(L,L)(L,R)(R,L)(R,R)]`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{log}2V`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{log}V+1`$
an entropy increase of 1 bit (taking base 2 logarithms). At the same time, the entropy of the environment is decreased by 1 bit.

While the molecule in the box is now in its original state, somewhere in $`LR`$, the memory register is not at $`0`$ but still registers $`L`$ or $`R`$. To reset the memory to $`0`$ requires compressing the phase space of the memory register. We might think of the memory register too as a 1-molecule gas, partitioned into three regions, $`L`$, $`0`$, and $`R`$. To erase the information in this system, the pointer-molecule, which is in the region $`LR`$, must be compressed to the region $`0`$. After this erasure or compression of the memory phase space, the entropy of the combined system is:

$$\mathrm{log}[(L,0)(R,0)]=\mathrm{log}V$$

By the second law, this entropy decrease of 1 bit in the system must be accompanied by an entropy increase in the environment of 1 bit; that is, a minimum entropy of 1 bit must be dissipated to the environment in resetting the memory to $`0`$.

Earman and Norton (, pp. 16–17) argue that a computerized demon can be programmed to operate a 1-molecule Szilard engine without the need to erase information. They consider a memory register with two states instead of three, labelled $`L`$ and $`R`$. At the starting point of the program, the memory register is set to $`L`$. If the molecule is detected in the left half of the box, there is no change in the memory register. If the molecule is detected in the right half, the program switches the state $`L`$ to $`R`$. Then, depending on the state of the memory, one of two subroutines is executed. The $`L`$-subroutine implements the appropriate compression-expansion sequence (partition inserted, piston pushed in from the right, etc.) and ends by leaving the memory in the state $`L`$. The $`R`$-subroutine functions similarly but ends by resetting the memory to $`L`$. So after a complete cycle, the engine and demon are returned to the initial state with an entropy reduction of 1 bit, in violation of the second law. Neither subroutine involves erasure, because the resetting operation—$`L`$ to $`L`$ or $`L`$ to $`R`$—depends on the state of the memory register: it does not involve compressing the phase space of the register.

But this is precisely the point: under the constraints imposed by Earman and Norton, the demon has been reduced to an automatic mechanism analogous to Smoluchowski’s spring-loaded trapdoor, and we already know that such a device cannot work. As Landauer (; p. 189 in ) remarks:

> This is not how a computer operates. In most instances, a computer pushes information around in a manner that is independent of the exact data which are being handled, and is only a function of the physical circuit connections.

The question at issue is at what stage of the information acquisition or information processing a computerized demon would fail as a perpetual motion machine, if we assume that the system is a canonical thermal system subject to the second law. The claim that information erasure, and not information acquisition or information processing, involves a minimum entropy cost depends on the observation that (i) measurement is essentially a copying operation with no entropy cost in principle, (ii) reversible computation is possible in principle, and (iii) erasure involves compressing the phase space of the physical system that functions as a memory register, which requires dumping heat into the environment.

A reset operation is logically irreversible, in the sense that the output does not uniquely determine the input (the mapping is many-to-one). If information is understood as physically embodied information, a logically irreversible operation must be implemented by a physically irreversible device, which dissipates heat into the environment. In , Landauer considers a sequence of $`n`$ bits physically represented as an array of spins, initially all aligned in the positive $`z`$-direction, a state he designates as ONE. As the spins take up entropy from the environment, they become disoriented, so that each spin can be aligned either in the positive or in the negative $`z`$-direction, with equal probability. Since the array can be in any one of $`2^n`$ states, the entropy can increase by $`kn\mathrm{log}2`$ (or $`n`$ bits, in appropriate units) as the initial information becomes thermalized. The reset operation RESTORE TO ONE is the opposite of thermalization: each bit is initially in one of two states and after the reset operation is in a definite state. Since the number of possible states for each bit has been reduced by half, the entropy is reduced by $`k\mathrm{log}2`$ per bit. The entropy of a closed system, such as a computer with its own batteries, cannot decrease, so this entropy appears as heat dumped into the environment.

Landauer(; p. 192 in ) remarks:

> Note that our argument here does not necessarily depend upon connections, frequently made in other writings, between entropy and information. We simply think of each bit as being located in a physical system, with perhaps a great many degrees of freedom, in addition to the relevant one. However, for each possible physical state which will be interpreted as a ZERO, there is a very similar possible physical state in which the physical system represents a ONE. Hence a system which is in a ONE state has only half as many physical states available to it as a system which can be in a ONE or ZERO state.

If all the bits in the array are initially in the ONE state, the reset operation RESTORE TO ONE involves no entropy change, and no heat dissipation, since no operation is necessary. Similarly, if all the bits are initially in the ZERO state, no entropy change is involved in resetting them all to the ONE state. (Recall Feynman’s argument in section 1.) Landauer (; pp. 192–193 in ) notes that the reset operation would be different in these two cases:

> Note, however, that the reset operation which sufficed when the inputs were all ONE (doing nothing) will not suffice when the inputs are all ZERO. When the initial states are ZERO, and we wish to go to ONE, this is analogous to a phase transition between two phases in equilibrium, and can, presumably, be done reversibly and without an entropy increase in the universe, but only by a procedure specifically designed for that task. We thus see that when the initial states do not have their fullest possible diversity, the necessary entropy increase in the RESET operation can be reduced, but only by taking advantage of our knowledge about the inputs, and tailoring the reset operation accordingly.

Earman and Norton(, p. 16) cite these remarks by Landauer as justification for the claim that, in their program for a computerized demon with no erasure, neither subroutine involves erasure. Each subroutine is designed for a specific task: the $`L`$-subroutine ends by leaving the memory register in the state $`L`$, the $`R`$-subroutine ends by switching the state of the memory from $`R`$ to $`L`$. This is of course correct. But their example only succeeds in evading the issue: without a state-independent reset operation, their demon is reduced to an automatically functioning switching device, and the question raised by Szilard is not addressed.