Classical computation is essentially local in time, yet some formulations of physics are global in time. Here I examine these differences, and suggest that certain forms of unconventional computation are needed to model physical processes and complex systems. These include certain forms of analogue computing, massively parallel field computing, and self-modifying computations.
DOI:10.1080/03081079.2014.920995 | full paper: PDF 309K
@article(SS-IJGS14, author = "Susan Stepney", title = "Local and global models of physics and computation", journal = "International Journal of General Systems", volume = 4, issue = 7, pages = "673-681", doi = "10.1080/03081079.2014.920995", year = 2014 )