A modern account of Maxwell´s demon

The realization of the physicality of information is one of the biggest revolutions of modern physics. In this path, a central role was played by Maxwell's demon, a thought experiment initially introduced to challenge the universal validity of the second law of thermodynamics, but which ultimately ended up stirring a fertile discussion about the true nature of dissipation.

The aim of this talk is to present these advancements in a unified manner, taking a radical stance on the identification of reversible computation and ideal thermodynamics. In particular, starting from the analysis of the Szilárd's engine, after the introduction of the Landauer's principle, we explain in detail how one is naturally lead to consider algorithmic complexity in order to ensure the validity of the second law (an argument already given by Zurek in the 80's, but which is largely forgotten in the mainstream literature).