A Framework for Universality in Physics, Computer Science, and Beyond

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Gonda, Tomáš, Reinhart, Tobias, Stengele, Sebastian, Coves, Gemma De les
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2023
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author Gonda, Tomáš
Reinhart, Tobias
Stengele, Sebastian
Coves, Gemma De les
author_facet Gonda, Tomáš
Reinhart, Tobias
Stengele, Sebastian
Coves, Gemma De les
contents Turing machines and spin models share a notion of universality according to which some simulate all others. Is there a theory of universality that captures this notion? We set up a categorical framework for universality which includes as instances universal Turing machines, universal spin models, NP completeness, top of a preorder, denseness of a subset, and more. By identifying necessary conditions for universality, we show that universal spin models cannot be finite. We also characterize when universality can be distinguished from a trivial one and use it to show that universal Turing machines are non-trivial in this sense. Our framework allows not only to compare universalities within each instance, but also instances themselves. We leverage a Fixed Point Theorem inspired by a result of Lawvere to establish that universality and negation give rise to unreachability (such as uncomputability). As such, this work sets the basis for a unified approach to universality and invites the study of further examples within the framework.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2307_06851
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Framework for Universality in Physics, Computer Science, and Beyond
Gonda, Tomáš
Reinhart, Tobias
Stengele, Sebastian
Coves, Gemma De les
Computational Complexity
Formal Languages and Automata Theory
Logic in Computer Science
Mathematical Physics
Turing machines and spin models share a notion of universality according to which some simulate all others. Is there a theory of universality that captures this notion? We set up a categorical framework for universality which includes as instances universal Turing machines, universal spin models, NP completeness, top of a preorder, denseness of a subset, and more. By identifying necessary conditions for universality, we show that universal spin models cannot be finite. We also characterize when universality can be distinguished from a trivial one and use it to show that universal Turing machines are non-trivial in this sense. Our framework allows not only to compare universalities within each instance, but also instances themselves. We leverage a Fixed Point Theorem inspired by a result of Lawvere to establish that universality and negation give rise to unreachability (such as uncomputability). As such, this work sets the basis for a unified approach to universality and invites the study of further examples within the framework.
title A Framework for Universality in Physics, Computer Science, and Beyond
topic Computational Complexity
Formal Languages and Automata Theory
Logic in Computer Science
Mathematical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.06851