Abstract
The idea of grounding physics in principles of computation and an information ontology by considering the universe as fundamentally a digital computing entity has been of increasing interest over the past several decades. It has been claimed in some versions of this approach that this entity is a cellular automaton. The most literal version of the idea that the universe is a “giant quantum computer” has been advocated recently by Seth Lloyd—who traces it back to previous work, including that of Zuse, Fredkin, and, less plausibly, Feynman—on the grounds that it provides a novel explanation for the complexity currently seen in the universe. In particular, it is claimed that the simulation of the known physical universe by an abstract automaton is sufficient for the ontological identification of the former with the latter. Here, a critical analysis of the arguments for this picture of the physical world is given in which both the similarity of it to the past picture of the world as a mechanical clockwork and the difference of it from existing physical theory are discussed. It is shown that the claim that the universe is an enormous computer, like the thesis that it is an enormous clockwork, is unwarranted, whatever value it might have for moving beyond previous mathematical approaches to physics through a move to discrete descriptions of physical processes.
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Notes
- 1.
Feynman considered the question of whether quantum devices could simulate the dynamics of extended quantum systems by functioning as quantum computers [6].
- 2.
The most detailed conceptual product of this line of attack involving automata is represented by the work of G.M. D’Ariano and collaborators, cf., e.g., [4].
- 3.
This is not unlike the consideration of how much solar energy a Dyson sphere could collect. More modestly, it was long ago noticed that the solar system (or the Jupiter system) can be used for the calculation of time, when conjoined with a Stonehenge-like construction or the simple addition of a sundial on the Earth within it; see Sect. 3.
- 4.
Indeed, for example, Lloyd’s colleague Neil Gershenfeld has written a book on the subject, The Physics of Information Technology, that culminates in the consideration of quantum computation and communication and clearly lays out its physical practice [10].
- 5.
Especially for further arguments of Tipler, discussed directly below.
- 6.
Except, perhaps, outside of an idealist metaphysics in which its appearance is understood as conspiratorial in nature. Whether or not it is, in some sense, a concept in the mind of a supernatural entity is, quite simply, not a scientific question. Indeed, that the world “kicks back” is one of more straightforward arguments for realism in relation to the physical, cf., e.g., [24].
- 7.
See Sect. 4 below for the discussion of an argument that attempts to justify this world picture by its purported ability to provide a novel scientific explanation.
- 8.
A particularly interesting example of a calculating clockwork to keep in mind in this regard is the Antikythera mechanism [19] and clockwork-based simulators of motion of celestial objects.
- 9.
It is supposed that the ordinary laws of physics together with randomness cannot provide an adequate such explanation.
- 10.
Cf. [11] for a textbook example.
- 11.
It also does not matter whether one has one symbol-producer working serially on the l attempts or several simultaneously operating sequence generators.
- 12.
In order to be considered a true computer and not, for example, just an elaborate clock, the universe operating according to a program would need to be capable of reacting conditionally accordingly to something like variable external circumstances (input).
- 13.
Moreover, it is normally in the analog, rather than the digital, that is, the continuation that one finds the infinite within bounded ranges. Note that the difference between information and the characteristic of digitality is the basis of the difference between the digital ontological and information-ontological stances.
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Acknowledgements
I gratefully acknowledge Tom Toffoli for helpful discussions regarding pertinent elements of the theories of automata and complexity.
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Jaeger, G. (2018). Clockwork Rebooted: Is the Universe a Computer?. In: Khrennikov, A., Toni, B. (eds) Quantum Foundations, Probability and Information. STEAM-H: Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Mathematics & Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74971-6_8
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