Logic List Mailing Archive
"What is computation? (How) does nature compute?", 2008 Midwest NKS Conference, Bloomington IN (U.S.A.), 31 Oct - 2 Nov 2008
2008 Midwest NKS Conference: Call for Papers and/or Participation
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS
What is computation? (How) does nature compute?
2008 Midwest NKS Conference
Fri Oct 31 - Sun Nov 2, 2008
Indiana University -- Bloomington, IN
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~dgerman/2008midwestNKSconference/
In 1964, in one of the six Messenger lectures he delivered at Cornell
University (later published as a book "The Character of Physical Law")
Richard Feynman said: "It always bothers me that, according to the laws as
we understand them today, it takes a computing machine an infinite number
of logical operations to figure out what goes on in no matter how tiny a
region of space, and no matter how tiny a region of time ... So I have
often made the hypothesis that ultimately physics will not require a
mathematical statement, that in the end the machinery will be revealed,
and the laws will turn out to be simple, like the chequer board with all
its apparent complexities."
The topic of the conference has been chosen with this quote in mind. The
conference will host a most distinguished group of scientists supporting
different views of a computable universe, from those supporting the thesis
that Nature performs (only) digital computation and does it up to a
maximal level, to those supporting the thesis of nature as a quantum
computer. Some strongly suggest however that the true nature of Nature can
be only explained by the study of randomness. Randomness however preserves
its mysterious reputation, for some of these authors it seems that
randomness can be generated deterministically in the classical sense,
while others claim the existence of "true" randomness from the principles
underlying quantum mechanics necessarily to explain the complexity seen
around. This event will become the place of confluence in which all these
views will be presented, discussed and analyzed by the guests and the
conference participants themselves. After presenting their views during
the first three days of the conference, the keynote speakers will then
participate in a round table discussion on the topic.
Invited speakers:
-----------------------------------
* Charles Bennett (IBM Research)
William Bialek (Princeton University)
Cristian Calude (University of Auckland)
Gregory Chaitin (IBM Research)
David Deutsch (Oxford University, via videoconference)
Edward Fredkin (Carnegie Mellon University)
Tony Leggett (University of Illinois)
Seth Lloyd (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Dana Scott (Carnegie Mellon University)
Stephen Wolfram (Wolfram Research)
* Leonid Levin (Boston University)
* to be confirmed
Round table moderators
-----------------------------------
James Gleick (author of Chaos, Genius and Isaac Newton)
Gerardo Ortiz (Indiana University Bloomington)
Hector Zenil (Univ. of Paris 1 and Univ of Lille 1)
Conference topics
-----------------
Topics of interest for submissions include (but are not limited to):
- Pure NKS projects
- The physics of computation
- Computational physics
- Foundations of computation
- Universality and Irreducibility
- Classical (digital) and quantum computation
- Algorithmic information theory
It is encouraged to relate the above topics with the conference title
(What is computation? (How) does nature compute?) and the points of
intersection between classical computation, quantum computation,
algorithmic information theory, and the principle of computational
equivalence.
Important Dates
---------------
Authors are invited to submit a title and a long abstract of one or two
pages providing a perspective on research results related to the topics
above. Accepted abstracts will be presented during the first day of the
conference on Fri morning and early afternoon October 31. Papers that have
been accepted for presentation will be considered for publication in the
journal of Complex Systems (http://www.complex-systems.com/) which will
have a special number dedicated to this conference.
Title and short abstract due: 25 August 2008 (Abstract Submission New Due
Date: 5 September)
Abstract notification: 15 September 2008
Conference: 31 Oct-2 Nov 2008
Conference paper due: 31 October 2008
Paper notification: 1 December 2008
Camera-ready paper due: 15 December 2008
The short abstracts must be in English and provide sufficient details to
allow the organizing committee and the advisory board to assess the
potential merits of each submission. One author of each accepted abstract
will be expected to attend the conference and make the presentation.
Abstracts/papers submitted for consideration must be unpublished, original
work of the authors that has not been submitted for publication elsewhere,
but may contain previously published material. Short abstracts must be
submitted electronically by the date above to hectorz@andrew.cmu.edu with
"2008 Midwest NKS Conf. Short Abstract" included in the subject line.
Format
------
The symposium is a four days event organized to provide an atmosphere that
fosters collaborative work, discussions and interactions. Lectures are
given by the keynote speakers listed above and by the authors of accepted
abstracts.
Organizing committee
--------------------
Adrian German (Indiana University Bloomington)
Gerardo Ortiz (Indiana University Bloomington)
Hector Zenil (Univ. of Paris 1 / Univ. of Lille 1)