The recent debate on hypercomputation has arisen new questions both on the computational abilities of quantum systems and the Church-Turing Thesis role in Physics. We propose here the idea of "effective physical process" as the essentially physical notion of computation. By using the Bohm and Hiley active information concept we analyze the differences between the standard form (quantum gates) and the non-standard one (adiabatic and morphogenetic) of Quantum Computing, and we point out how its Super-Turing potentialities derive from an incomputable information source in accordance with Bell's constraints. On condition that we give up the formal concept of "universality", the possibility to realize quantum oracles is reachable. In this way computation is led back to the logic of physical world.
The recent debate on hypercomputation has arisen new questions both on the computational abilities of quantum systems and the Church-Turing Thesis role in Physics. We propose here the idea of "effective physical process" as the essentially physical notion of computation. By using the Bohm and Hiley active information concept we analyze the differences between the standard form (quantum gates) and the non-standard one (adiabatic and morphogenetic) of Quantum Computing, and we point out how its Super-Turing potentialities derive from an incomputable information source in accordance with Bell's constraints. On condition that we give up the formal concept of "universality", the possibility to realize quantum oracles is reachable. In this way computation is led back to the logic of physical world.
The recent debate on hyper-computation has raised new questions both on the computational abilities of quantum systems and the Church-Turing Thesis role in Physics. We propose here the idea of geometry of effective physical process as the essentially physical notion of computation. In Quantum mechanics we cannot use the traditional Euclidean geometry but we introduce more sophisticate non Euclidean geometry which include a new kind of information diffuse in the entire universe and that we can represent as Fisher information or active information. We remark that from the Fisher information we can obtain the Bohm and Hiley quantum potential and the classical Schrodinger equation. We can see the quantum phenomena do not affect a limited region of the space but is reflected in a change of the geometry of all the universe. In conclusion any local physical change or physical process is reflected in all the universe by the change of its geometry, This is the deepest meaning of the entanglement in Quantum mechanics and quantum computing. We stress the connection between metric and information as measure of change. Because computation is not restricted to calculus but is the environment changing via physical processes, super-Turing potentialities derive from an incomputable information source embedded into the geometry of the universe in accordance with Bell's constraints. In the general relativity we define the geometry of the space time. In our approach quantum phenomena define the geometry of the parameters of the probability distribution that include also the space time parameters. To study this new approach to the computation we use the new theory of Morphogenic systems.
According to the Church-Turing Thesis (CTT), effective formal behaviours can be simulated by Turing machines; this has naturally led to speculation that physical systems can also be simulated computationally. But is this wider claim true, or do behaviours exist which are strictly hypercomputational? Several idealised computational models are known which suggest the possibility of hypercomputation, some Newtonian, some based on cosmology, some on quantum theory. While these models' physicality is debatable, they nonetheless throw into question the validity of extending CTT to include all physical systems. We consider the physicality of hypercomputational behaviour from first principles, by showing that quantum theory can be reformulated in a way that explains why physical behaviours can be regarded as 'computing something' in the standard computational state-machine sense. While this does not rule out the physicality of hypercomputation, it strongly limits the forms it can take. Our model also has physical consequences; in particular, the continuity of motion and arrow of time become theorems within the basic model.
According to the Church-Turing Thesis (CTT), effective formal behaviours can be simulated by Turing machines; this has naturally led to speculation that physical sys- tems can also be simulated computationally. But is this wider claim true, or do behaviours exist which are strictly hypercomputational? Several idealised computational models are known which suggest the possibility of hypercomputation, some Newtonian, some based on cosmology, some on quantum theory. While these models' physicality is debatable, they nonetheless throw into question the validity of extending CTT to include all physical systems. We consider the physicality of hypercomputational behaviour from first princi- ples, by showing that quantum theory can be reformulated in a way that explains why physical behaviours can be regarded as 'computing something' in the standard compu- tational state-machine sense. While this does not rule out the physicality of hypercomputation, it strongly limits the forms it can take. Our model also has physical consequences; in particular, the continuity of motion and arrow of time become theorems within the basic model.
Some of the philosophical questions raised by the theory of quantum computation are discussed. First it is considered whether the possibility of exponential speed-up in quantum computation provides an argument for a more substantive notion of quantum information than so far allowed. It is concluded that this is not so. Then some questions regarding the status of the Church-Turing hypothesis in the light of quantum computation are considered. In particular, Deutsch’s claim that a physical principle, the Turing Principle, underlies the Church-Turing hypothesis is rebutted. Finally, the question of whether the Church-Turing hypothesis might serve as a constraint on the laws of physics is briefly considered.
In the search for a precise definition of the notion of effective calculability, Turing’s computability has proven to be more convincing than other definitions proposed almost simultaneously. Turing does not define a particular class of “calculable functions”, but which processes can be carried out in computing. His conceptual analysis brings about an intimate and inescapable link between computability and “measurability”, hence between mechanical procedures and physical processes. The full significance of this link is captured in Deutsch’s physical version of the Church-Turing thesis, namely, his claim that every physical system can be simulated by a universal quantum Turing machine. Quantum physics supports more efficient forms of computation, even though quantum computation remains within Turing’s limits. Why? This chapter explores how logical principles and physical processes coalesce into the notion of computation.
The subject of quantum computing brings together ideas from classical information theory, computer science, and quantum physics. This review aims to summarize not just quantum computing, but the whole subject of quantum information theory. Information can be identified as the most general thing which must propagate from a cause to an effect. It therefore has a fundamentally important role in the science of physics. However, the mathematical treatment of information, especially information processing, is quite recent, dating from the mid-20th century. This has meant that the full significance of information as a basic concept in physics is only now being discovered. This is especially true in quantum mechanics. The theory of quantum information and computing puts this significance on a firm footing, and has led to some profound and exciting new insights into the natural world. Among these are the use of quantum states to permit the secure transmission of classical information (quantum cryptography), the use of quantum entanglement to permit reliable transmission of quantum states (teleportation), the possibility of preserving quantum coherence in the presence of irreversible noise processes (quantum error correction), and the use of controlled quantum evolution for efficient computation (quantum computation). The common theme of all these insights is the use of quantum entanglement as a computational resource. It turns out that information theory and quantum mechanics fit together very well. In order to explain their relationship, this review begins with an introduction to classical information theory and computer science, including Shannon's theorem, error correcting codes, Turing machines and computational complexity. The principles of quantum mechanics are then outlined, and the Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen (EPR) experiment described. The EPR-Bell correlations, and quantum entanglement in general, form the essential new ingredient which distinguishes quantum from classical information theory and, arguably, quantum from classical physics. Basic quantum information ideas are next outlined, including qubits and data compression, quantum gates, the `no cloning' property and teleportation. Quantum cryptography is briefly sketched. The universal quantum computer (QC) is described, based on the Church-Turing principle and a network model of computation. Algorithms for such a computer are discussed, especially those for finding the period of a function, and searching a random list. Such algorithms prove that a QC of sufficiently precise construction is not only fundamentally different from any computer which can only manipulate classical information, but can compute a small class of functions with greater efficiency. This implies that some important computational tasks are impossible for any device apart from a QC. To build a universal QC is well beyond the abilities of current technology. However, the principles of quantum information physics can be tested on smaller devices. The current experimental situation is reviewed, with emphasis on the linear ion trap, high- Q optical cavities, and nuclear magnetic resonance methods. These allow coherent control in a Hilbert space of eight dimensions (three qubits) and should be extendable up to a thousand or more dimensions (10 qubits). Among other things, these systems will allow the feasibility of quantum computing to be assessed. In fact such experiments are so difficult that it seemed likely until recently that a practically useful QC (requiring, say, 1000 qubits) was actually ruled out by considerations of experimental imprecision and the unavoidable coupling between any system and its environment. However, a further fundamental part of quantum information physics provides a solution to this impasse. This is quantum error correction (QEC). An introduction to QEC is provided. The evolution of the QC is restricted to a carefully chosen subspace of its Hilbert space. Errors are almost certain to cause a departure from this subspace. QEC provides a means to detect and undo such departures without upsetting the quantum computation. This achieves the apparently impossible, since the computation preserves quantum coherence even though during its course all the qubits in the computer will have relaxed spontaneously many times. The review concludes with an outline of the main features of quantum information physics and avenues for future research.