Related papers: The World is Either Algorithmic or Mostly Random
A physical system is determined by a finite set of initial conditions and "laws" represented by equations. The system is computable if we can solve the equations in all instances using a "finite body of mathematical knowledge". In this…
Analog computation is an alternative to digital computation, that has recently re-gained prominence, since it includes neural networks and neuromorphic computing. Further important examples are cellular automata and differential analyzers.…
Using frequency distributions of daily closing price time series of several financial market indexes, we investigate whether the bias away from an equiprobable sequence distribution found in the data, predicted by algorithmic information…
Operating quantum sensors and quantum computers would make data in the form of quantum states available for purely quantum processing, opening new avenues for studying physical processes and certifying quantum technologies. In this…
Probabilistic computing excels in approximating combinatorial problems and modelling uncertainty. However, using conventional deterministic hardware for probabilistic models is challenging: (pseudo) random number generation introduces…
Can mathematics help us find our way through all the wonders and mysteries of the universe? When physicists describe the laws governing the physical world, mathematics is always involved. Is this due to the fact that the universe is, at…
Networks constitute efficient tools for assessing universal features of complex systems. In physical contexts, classical as well as quantum, networks are used to describe a wide range of phenomena, such as phase transitions, intricate…
In order to reject the notion that information is always about something, the "It from Bit" idea relies on the nonexistence of a realistic framework that might underly quantum theory. This essay develops the case that there is a plausible…
The human mind is known to be sensitive to complexity. For instance, the visual system reconstructs hidden parts of objects following a principle of maximum simplicity. We suggest here that higher cognitive processes, such as the selection…
In 1686 in his Discours de Metaphysique, Leibniz points out that if an arbitrarily complex theory is permitted then the notion of "theory" becomes vacuous because there is always a theory. This idea is developed in the modern theory of…
Solutions relying on artificial intelligence are devised to predict data patterns and answer questions that are clearly defined, involve an enumerable set of solutions, clear rules, and inherently binary decision mechanisms. Yet, as they…
Many real life networks, such as the World Wide Web, transportation systems, biological or social networks, achieve both a strong local clustering (nodes have many mutual neighbors) and a small diameter (maximum distance between any two…
Is our world just information? We argue that our current notion of information has one serious shortcoming: It is quite literally meaningless. We suggest a meaningful extension of the notion of information that is dynamic, internal,…
With unprecedented advances in genetic engineering we are starting to see progressively more original examples of synthetic life. As such organisms become more common it is desirable to be able to distinguish between natural and artificial…
Small-world networks are ubiquitous in real-life systems. Most previous models of small-world networks are stochastic. The randomness makes it more difficult to gain a visual understanding on how do different nodes of networks interact with…
The dialogue develops arguments for and against adopting a new world system, info-computationalist naturalism, that is poised to replace the traditional mechanistic world system. We try to figure out what the info-computational paradigm…
The analyzability of the universe into subsystems requires a concept of the "independence" of the subsystems, of which the relativistic quantum world supports many distinct notions which either coincide or are trivial in the classical…
The question of what ontological message (if any) is encoded in the formalism of contemporary physics is, to say the least, controversial. The reasons for this state of affairs are psychological and neurobiological. The processes by which…
It is shown that the homogeneous and isotropic Universe is spatially flat in the limit which takes into account the moments of infinitely large orders of probabilistic distribution of a scale factor with respect to its mean value in the…
Merely by existing, all physical systems register information. And by evolving dynamically in time, they transform and process that information. The laws of physics determine the amount of information that a physical system can register…