Catalytic leverage of correlations and mitigation of dissipation in Information erasure

Abstract

Correlations are a valuable resource for quantum information processing and quantum thermodynamics. However, the preparation of some correlated states can carry a substantial cost that should be compared against its value. We show that classical correlations can be catalytically exploited, which enables to mitigate heat and entropy dissipation in information erasure. These correlations are naturally generated by the erasure process, and thus can be considered free. Although we also show that maximum erasure with minimum dissipation and no correlations is theoretically possible, catalysts are always useful in practical erasure settings, where correlations are expected to take place.