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Quantum mechanics suggests that nature is discrete, with one state per phase space volume $\hbar^{3N}$. This appears to contradict the idea that the state of an N-particle system can have infinite precision and is described by a set of…
The number of qubits used by a quantum algorithm will be a crucial computational resource for the foreseeable future. We show how to obtain the classical query complexity for continuous problems. We then establish a simple formula for a…
The notion of a qubit is ubiquitous in quantum information processing. In spite of the simple abstract definition of qubits as two-state quantum systems, identifying qubits in physical systems is often unexpectedly difficult. There are an…
Quantum computers are expected to become a powerful tool for studying physical quantum systems. Consequently, a number of quantum algorithms for studying the physical properties of such systems have been developed. While qubit-based quantum…
The requirement that physical phenomena associated with gravitational collapse should be duly reconciled with the postulates of quantum mechanics implies that at a Planckian scale our world is not 3+1 dimensional. Rather, the observable…
The paper starts with the proposal that the cause of the apparent insolubility of the free-will problem are several popular but strongly metaphysical notions and hypotheses. To reduce the metaphysics, some ideas are borrowed from physics. A…
Free will is an old philosophical enigma that has been recently revived by neuropsychology. We restrict ourselves to the problem that determinism seems to allow only an illusion of freedom but random decissions do not contain any freedom…
An ideal system of $n$ qubits has $2^n$ dimensions. This exponential grants power, but also hinders characterizing the system's state and dynamics. We study a new problem: the qubits in a physical system might not be independent. They can…
The ultimate limits of computation are not just logical, but physical. We investigate the physical resources -- time, energy, entropy, and free energy -- required to perform computational work. We apply the resulting measures of physical…
In analogy of classical Kolmogorov complexity we develop a theory of the algorithmic information in bits contained in any one of continuously many pure quantum states: quantum Kolmogorov complexity. Classical Kolmogorov complexity coincides…
It is argued that the occurrence of disproportionately ("un-natural") large (or small) numbers, as well as deep cancellations, are comparatively natural traits of the way Nature is geared to operate in most complex systems. The idea is…
In this manuscript, we derive the principle of conservation of computational complexity. We measure computational complexity as the number of binary computations (decisions) required to solve a problem. Every problem then defines a unique…
We consider natural Hamiltonian systems of $n>1$ degrees of freedom with polynomial homogeneous potentials of degree $k$. We show that under a genericity assumption, for a fixed $k$, at most only a finite number of such systems is…
The primary resource for quantum computation is Hilbert-space dimension. Whereas Hilbert space itself is an abstract construction, the number of dimensions available to a system is a physical quantity that requires physical resources.…
The complexity of the quantum state of a multiparticle system and the maximum possible accuracy of its quantum description are connected by a relation similar to the coordinate-momentum uncertainty relation. The coefficient in this relation…
In this work we discuss how to correctly obtain the number of degrees of freedom of a system constituted by n particles with fixed relative distances and which are immerse in a three-dimensional space. As a result of our analysis, we…
The primary resource for quantum computation is Hilbert-space dimension. Whereas Hilbert space itself is an abstract construction, the number of dimensions available to a system is a physical quantity that requires physical resources.…
We review the current status of dimensions, as the result of a long and controversial history that includes input from philosophy and physics. Our conclusion is that they are subjective but essential concepts which provide a kind of…
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…
Accounting for resources is the central issue in computational efficiency. We point out physical constraints implicit in information readout that have been overlooked in classical computing. The basic particle-counting mode of read-out sets…