The study of the
physics of computationComputation is a general term for any type of information processing. This includes phenomena ranging from human thinking to calculations with a more narrow meaning. Computation is a process following a well-defined model that is understood and can be expressed in an algorithm, protocol, network...
relates to understanding the fundamental physical limits of
computerA computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century . These were the size of a large room, consuming as...
s. This field has led to the investigation of how
thermodynamicsIn physics, thermodynamics is the study of the conversion of energy into work and heat and its relation to macroscopic variables such as temperature, volume and pressure...
limits information processing, the understanding of
chaosChaos typically refers to a state lacking order or predictability. In ancient Greece, it referred to the initial state of the universe, and, by extension, space, darkness, or an abyss...
and dynamical systems, and a rapidly growing effort to invent new
quantum computerA quantum computer is a device for computation that makes direct use of quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform operations on data. The basic principle behind quantum computation is that quantum properties can be used to represent data and perform operations...
s.
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The study of the
physics of computationComputation is a general term for any type of information processing. This includes phenomena ranging from human thinking to calculations with a more narrow meaning. Computation is a process following a well-defined model that is understood and can be expressed in an algorithm, protocol, network...
relates to understanding the fundamental physical limits of
computerA computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century . These were the size of a large room, consuming as...
s. This field has led to the investigation of how
thermodynamicsIn physics, thermodynamics is the study of the conversion of energy into work and heat and its relation to macroscopic variables such as temperature, volume and pressure...
limits information processing, the understanding of
chaosChaos typically refers to a state lacking order or predictability. In ancient Greece, it referred to the initial state of the universe, and, by extension, space, darkness, or an abyss...
and dynamical systems, and a rapidly growing effort to invent new
quantum computerA quantum computer is a device for computation that makes direct use of quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform operations on data. The basic principle behind quantum computation is that quantum properties can be used to represent data and perform operations...
s.
See also important publications in physics of computation
See also
- Digital physics
In physics and cosmology, digital physics is a collection of theoretical perspectives that start by assuming that the universe is, at heart, describable by information, and is therefore computable...
- Computation
Computation is a general term for any type of information processing. This includes phenomena ranging from human thinking to calculations with a more narrow meaning. Computation is a process following a well-defined model that is understood and can be expressed in an algorithm, protocol, network...
- Theory of computation
The theory of computation is the branch of computer science and mathematics that deals with whether and how efficiently problems can be solved on a model of computation, using an algorithm...
- Reversible computation
- Hypercomputation
Hypercomputation refers to non-Turing computation. This includes various hypothetical methods for the computation of non-Turing-computable functions, following super-recursive algorithms . It also includes other forms of computation, such as interactive computation. The term was first introduced...
- Physical information
In physics, physical information refers generally to the information that is contained in a physical system. Its usage in quantum mechanics is important, for example in the concept of quantum entanglement to describe effectively direct or causal relationships between apparently distinct or...
- Limits to computation
There are several physical and practical limits to the amount of computation or data storage that can be performed with a given amount of mass, volume, or energy:...