English

A better model of computation for digital physics?

Logic in Computer Science 2017-02-14 v1 Quantum Physics

Abstract

This note is meant to invite the reader to consider interaction nets, a relatively recently discovered model of computation, as a possible alternative for cellular automata which are often employed as the basis for digital physics. Defined as graph-like structures (in contrast to the grids for cellular automata), interaction nets possess a set of interesting properties, such as locality, linearity, and strong confluence, which together result in so-called clockless computation in the sense that they do not require any global clock in order to operate. We believe that an attempt of using interaction nets as a replacement for cellular automata may lead to a new view in digital physics.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1702.03523,
  title  = {A better model of computation for digital physics?},
  author = {Anton Salikhmetov},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1702.03523},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

4 pages, adapting the "Preliminaries" section from arXiv:1609.03644

R2 v1 2026-06-22T18:15:59.442Z