Physical Perspectives on Computation, Computational Perspectives on Physics

Physical Perspectives on Computation, Computational Perspectives on Physics
Author: Michael E. Cuffaro
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2018-05-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1316762351

Although computation and the science of physical systems would appear to be unrelated, there are a number of ways in which computational and physical concepts can be brought together in ways that illuminate both. This volume examines fundamental questions which connect scholars from both disciplines: is the universe a computer? Can a universal computing machine simulate every physical process? What is the source of the computational power of quantum computers? Are computational approaches to solving physical problems and paradoxes always fruitful? Contributors from multiple perspectives reflecting the diversity of thought regarding these interconnections address many of the most important developments and debates within this exciting area of research. Both a reference to the state of the art and a valuable and accessible entry to interdisciplinary work, the volume will interest researchers and students working in physics, computer science, and philosophy of science and mathematics.

Quantum Computing in the Arts and Humanities

Quantum Computing in the Arts and Humanities
Author: Eduardo Reck Miranda
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 371
Release: 2022-05-05
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 3030955389

Computers are essential for the functioning of our society. Despite the incredible power of existing computers, computing technology is progressing beyond today’s conventional models. Quantum Computing (QC) is surfacing as a promising disruptive technology. QC is built on the principles of quantum mechanics. QC can run algorithms that are not trivial to run on digital computers. QC systems are being developed for the discovery of new materials and drugs and improved methods for encoding information for secure communication over the Internet. Unprecedented new uses for this technology are bound to emerge from ongoing research. The development of conventional digital computing technology for the arts and humanities has been progressing in tandem with the evolution of computers since the 1950s. Today, computers are absolutely essential for the arts and humanities. Therefore, future developments in QC are most likely to impact on the way in which artists will create and perform, and how research in the humanities will be conducted. This book presents a comprehensive collection of chapters by pioneers of emerging interdisciplinary research at the crossroads of quantum computing, and the arts and humanities, from philosophy and social sciences to visual arts and music. Prof. Eduardo Reck Miranda is a composer and a professor in Computer Music at Plymouth University, UK, where he is a director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research (ICCMR). His previous publications include the Springer titles Handbook of Artificial Intelligence for Music, Guide to Unconventional Computing for Music, Guide to Brain-Computer Music Interfacing and Guide to Computing for Expressive Music Performance.

The Nature of Physical Computation

The Nature of Physical Computation
Author: Oron Shagrir
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2022
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0197552382

Computing systems are ubiquitous in contemporary life. Even the brain is thought to be a computing system of sorts. But what does it mean to say that a given organ or system "computes"? What is it about laptops, smartphones, and nervous systems that they are deemed to compute - and why does itseldom occur to us to describe stomachs, hurricanes, rocks, or chairs that way? These questions are key to laying the conceptual foundations of computational sciences, including computer science and engineering, and the cognitive and neural sciences.Oron Shagrir here provides an extended argument for the semantic view of computation, which states that semantic properties are involved in the nature of computing systems. The first part of the book provides general background. Although different in scope, these chapters have a common theme-namely,that the linkage between the mathematical theory of computability and the notion of physical computation is weak. The second part of the book reviews existing non-semantic accounts of physical computation. Shagrir analyze three influential accounts in greater depth and argues that none of theseaccounts is satisfactory, but each of them highlights certain key features of physical computation that he eventually adopts in his own semantic account of physical computation - a view that rests on a phenomenon known as simultaneous implementation (or "indeterminacy of computation"). Shagrircompletes the characterization of his account of computation and highlights the distinctive feature of computational explanations.

The Physical Signature of Computation

The Physical Signature of Computation
Author: Neal G. Anderson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2024-07-09
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0192570293

In The Physical Signature of Computation, Neal Anderson and Gualtiero Piccinini articulate and defend the robust mapping account--the most systematic, rigorous, and comprehensive account of computational implementation to date. Drawing in part from recent results in physical information theory, they argue that mapping accounts of implementation can be made adequate by incorporating appropriate physical constraints. According to the robust mapping account, the key constraint on mappings from physical to computational states--the key for establishing that a computation is physically implemented--is physical-computational equivalence: evolving physical states bear neither more nor less information about the evolving computation than do the computational states they map onto. When this highly nontrivial constraint is satisfied, among others that are spelled out as part of the account, a physical system can be said to implement a computation in a robust sense, which means that the system bears the physical signature of the computation. Anderson and Piccinini apply their robust mapping account to important questions in physical foundations of computation and cognitive science, including the alleged indeterminacy of computation, pancomputationalism, and the computational theory of mind. They show that physical computation is determinate, nontrivial versions of pancomputationalism fail, and cognition involves computation only insofar as neurocognitive systems bear the physical signature of specific computations. They also argue that both consciousness and physics outstrip computation.

Physics and Computation

Physics and Computation
Author: Armond Duwell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 82
Release: 2021-09-23
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1009117106

This Element has three main aims. First, it aims to help the reader understand the concept of computation that Turing developed, his corresponding results, and what those results indicate about the limits of computational possibility. Second, it aims to bring the reader up to speed on analyses of computation in physical systems which provide the most general characterizations of what it takes for a physical system to be a computational system. Third, it aims to introduce the reader to some different kinds of quantum computers, describe quantum speedup, and present some explanation sketches of quantum speedup. If successful, this Element will equip the reader with a basic knowledge necessary for pursuing these topics in more detail.

Perspectives in Computation

Perspectives in Computation
Author: Robert Geroch
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 207
Release: 2009-10
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0226288552

Perspectives in Computation covers three broad topics: the computation process & its limitations; the search for computational efficiency; & the role of quantum mechanics in computation.

Technology and Mathematics

Technology and Mathematics
Author: Sven Ove Hansson
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2018-10-24
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 3319937790

This volume is the first extensive study of the historical and philosophical connections between technology and mathematics. Coverage includes the use of mathematics in ancient as well as modern technology, devices and machines for computation, cryptology, mathematics in technological education, the epistemology of computer-mediated proofs, and the relationship between technological and mathematical computability. The book also examines the work of such historical figures as Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace, and Alan Turing.

On the Foundations of Computing

On the Foundations of Computing
Author: Giuseppe Primiero
Publisher:
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2020
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0198835647

"On The Foundations of Computing is a technical, historical and conceptual investigation in the three main methodological approaches to the computational sciences: mathematical, engineering and experimental. The first part of the volume explores the background behind the formal understanding of computing, originating at the end of the XIX century, and it invesitagtes the formal origins and conceptual development of the notions of computation, algorithm and program. The second part of the volume overviews the construction of physical devices to perform automated tasks and it considers associated technical and conceptual issues. We start from the design and construction of the first generation of computing machines, explore their evolution and progress in engineering (for both hardware and software), and investigate their theoretical and conceptual problems. The third part of the volume analyses the methods and principles of experimental sciences founded on computational methods. We study the use of machines to perform scientific tasks, with particular reference to computer models and simulations. Each part aims at defining a notion of computational validity according to the corresponding methodological approach"--

Physical Computation

Physical Computation
Author: Gualtiero Piccinini
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2015
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0199658854

Computation permeates our world, but a satisfactory philosophical theory of what it is has been lacking. Gualtiero Piccinini presents a mechanistic account of what makes a physical system a computing system. He argues that computation does not entail representation or information-processing, although information-processing entails computation.