If Alien Civilizations Use Hyper-Efficient Computers, They Will Have A Distinct Energy Signal We Can Detect

Artificial Intelligence appears set to remain a part of our future, despite its high demand for computational power. Computers have continually grown in power and dependence since their inception, making computation a defining factor of advanced civilizations. A recent paper on arXiv suggests that hyper-efficient computers could serve as a key indicator of such civilizations.

According to the author, these hyper-efficient computers, termed a Slysh halo, would generate a unique energy signal that we could detect. The term Slysh is derived from V. I. Slysh, who proposed that advanced civilizations function most effectively at supercool temperatures. The principle of Landauer's principle dictates that all non-reversible computations produce waste heat, setting a limit on computing efficiency.

The colder the computation, the more efficient it becomes, as exemplified by optimal computers at 10 Kelvin being thirty times more efficient than at 300 Kelvin. A Slysh halo would feature a distinct signature, glowing in the far infrared or submillimeter spectrum between 5 to 30 Kelvin. However, the presence of a star's debris could also emit light in the same range, and the heat emitted by an optimized Slysh halo would be faint against the star's light.

Despite these considerations, a fully optimized Slysh halo would still be detectable at 100 light-years, potentially observable with current telescopes like ALMA. Should we fail to detect such a halo around nearby stars, it could imply the absence of nearby alien civilizations.