dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaOn the computational capabilities of physical systems part I: the impossibility of infallible computation
| Authors | David H. Wolpert |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0005058 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0005058 |
Abstract
In this first of two papers, strong limits on the accuracy of physical computation are established. First it is proven that there cannot be a physical computer C to which one can pose any and all computational tasks concerning the physical universe. Next it is proven that no physical computer C can correctly carry out any computational task in the subset of such tasks that can be posed to C. As a particular example, this means that there cannot be a physical computer that can, for any physical system external to that computer, take the specification of that external system's state as input and then correctly predict its future state before that future state actually occurs. The results also mean that there cannot exist an infallible, general-purpose observation apparatus, and that there cannot be an infallible, general-purpose control apparatus. These results do not rely on systems that are infinite, and/or non-classical, and/or obey chaotic dynamics. They also hold even if one uses an infinitely fast, infinitely dense computer, with computational powers greater than that of a Turing Machine.
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"abstract": "In this first of two papers, strong limits on the accuracy of physical\ncomputation are established. First it is proven that there cannot be a physical\ncomputer C to which one can pose any and all computational tasks concerning the\nphysical universe. Next it is proven that no physical computer C can correctly\ncarry out any computational task in the subset of such tasks that can be posed\nto C. As a particular example, this means that there cannot be a physical\ncomputer that can, for any physical system external to that computer, take the\nspecification of that external system\u0027s state as input and then correctly\npredict its future state before that future state actually occurs. The results\nalso mean that there cannot exist an infallible, general-purpose observation\napparatus, and that there cannot be an infallible, general-purpose control\napparatus. These results do not rely on systems that are infinite, and/or\nnon-classical, and/or obey chaotic dynamics. They also hold even if one uses an\ninfinitely fast, infinitely dense computer, with computational powers greater\nthan that of a Turing Machine.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0005058",
"authors": [
"David H. Wolpert"
],
"categories": [
"physics.comp-ph",
"cond-mat.stat-mech",
"cs.CC",
"math-ph",
"math.MP",
"physics.gen-ph"
],
"title": "On the computational capabilities of physical systems part I: the impossibility of infallible computation",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0005058"
},
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