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On Computable Numbers, Nonuniversality, and the Genuine Power of Parallelism

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Emergent Computation

Part of the book series: Emergence, Complexity and Computation ((ECC,volume 24))

Abstract

We present a simple example that disproves the universality principle. Unlike previous counter-examples to computational universality, it does not rely on extraneous phenomena, such as the availability of input variables that are time varying, computational complexity that changes with time or order of execution, physical variables that interact with each other, uncertain deadlines, or mathematical conditions among the variables that must be obeyed throughout the computation. In the most basic case of the new example, all that is used is a single pre-existing global variable whose value is modified by the computation itself. In addition, our example offers a new dimension for separating the computable from the uncomputable, while illustrating the power of parallelism in computation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computing and Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada

    Selim G. Akl

  2. Department of Philosophy and School of Computing, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada

    Nancy Salay

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  1. Selim G. Akl
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  2. Nancy Salay
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Correspondence to Selim G. Akl .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Unconventional Computing Centre, University of the West of England Unconventional Computing Centre, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Andrew Adamatzky

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Akl, S.G., Salay, N. (2017). On Computable Numbers, Nonuniversality, and the Genuine Power of Parallelism. In: Adamatzky, A. (eds) Emergent Computation . Emergence, Complexity and Computation, vol 24. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46376-6_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46376-6_4

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