Ideal memcapacitors and meminductors violate the First Law of thermodynamics

Like memristors (resistors with memory), memcapacitors and meminductors have been proposed as suitable devices for cognitive computing applications. CogniGron researcher Arjan van der Schaft and collaborator Dimitri Jeltsema have mathematically proved that ideal memcapacitors and meminductors share the same properties as the perpetual motion systems of the first kind. Therefore, as those mechanical counterparts, they violate the First Law of thermodynamics. The information that real devices cannot behave as ideal memcapacitors or meminductors, and that, at best, they can only partially emulate their functionality is of great importance for the design of novel devices for neuromorphic applications.

The work has just been published in Scientific Reports (see https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-73833-3)

Reference: Dimitri Jeltsema & Arjan van der Schaft, Scientific Reports volume 10, Article number: 16688 (2020)