Related papers: Reconstructing the Universe in a computer: physica…
The purpose of this paper is to provide an account of the epistemology and metaphysics of universe creation on a computer.
This is an expanded version of my Shaw Prize Lecture delivered at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
When we want to predict the future, we compute it from what we know about the present. Specifically, we take a mathematical representation of observed reality, plug it into some dynamical equations, and then map the time-evolved result back…
Some contemporary views of the universe assume information and computation to be key in understanding and explaining the basic structure underpinning physical reality. We introduce the Computable Universe exploring some of the basic…
This is the written version of an invited review talk for the 13 Feb 2004 AAAS Meeting in Seattle. The talk's goal is to present a philosophical view of extragalactic astronomy as it applies to the sub-field of galaxy evolution. The talk is…
This Resource Letter treats the nascent discipline of physical eschatology, which deals with the future evolution of astrophysical objects, including the universe itself, and is thus both a counterpart and a complement to conventional…
This essay is based on a physics lecture given at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology on May 24, 2006, Hong Kong. It has 5 sections and one page of references and suggested reading. The section titles are: 1. Origin of the…
This volume constitutes the proceedings of the 7th International Workshop on Physics and Computation (PC 2016). The workshop was held on the 14th of July 2016 in Manchester, UK, as a satellite workshop to UCNC 2016, the 15th International…
We stand at the foot of a significant inflection in the trajectory of scientific discovery. As society continues on its fast-paced digital transformation, so does humankind's collective scientific knowledge and discourse. We now read and…
I discuss some aspects of the use of computers in Relativity, Astrophysics and Cosmology. For each section I provide two examples representative of the field, including gravitational collapse, black hole imagery, supernovae explosions,…
The theme of this book chapter is to discuss algorithms for identifying and reconstructing groups and clusters of galaxies out of the general galaxy distribution. I review the progress of detection techniques through time, from the very…
This paper introduces foundations for a new kind of cosmology. We advocate that computer simulations are needed to address two key cosmological issues. First, the robustness of the emergence of complexity, which boils down to ask: "what…
This text presents the research field of natural/unconventional computing as it appears in the book COMPUTING NATURE. The articles discussed consist a selection of works from the Symposium on Natural Computing at AISB-IACAP (British Society…
A convergence of ideas, observations and technology have led to the greatest period of cosmological discovery yet. Over the past three years we have determined the basic features of our Universe. We are now challenged to make sense of what…
Quantum computing exposes the brilliance of quantum mechanics through computer science and, as such, gives oneself a marvelous and exhilarating journey to go through. This article leads along that journey with a historical and current…
I know better than to come between the experts here assembled and their research programs, so I confine these remarks to lessons to be drawn on the state of our subject from the histories of research in three Windows on the Universe:…
Is the universe computable? If so, it may be much cheaper in terms of information requirements to compute all computable universes instead of just ours. I apply basic concepts of Kolmogorov complexity theory to the set of possible…
This piece plays with the idea of the Computocene: an era defined not merely by the ubiquity of computers, but by their deepening role in how we observe, interpret, and make sense of the world. Rather than emphasizing automation, speed,…
This is a position paper written as an introduction to the special volume on quantum algorithms I edited for the journal Mathematical Structures in Computer Science (Volume 20 - Special Issue 06 (Quantum Algorithms), 2010).
This special issue is dedicated to starshades: science, engineering, technology and programmatics. Our reasons for organizing this special issue are several fold. First as a new technology and with research accomplished in many…