Physics and Computation 2012

The workshop is an interdisciplinary meeting on the frontiers of Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Engineering and Biology. The classical application of mathematics is to model and understand the behaviour of physical systems, complex systems, interacting quantum systems or biological systems. Conversely, we can use our theories and observations of such systems to compute. Analogue computation in the hands of Lord Kelvin, Bush and Hartree is an example of combining mathematical models and physical processes to solve mathematical problems. The domination of digital computing owes much to the mathematical work of Turing and his successors, as exemplified by the Church Turing thesis, and the massive development of computability theory. The proposed new technologies for computation raise all sorts of questions concerning their practicality and limits of their applications, questions that require mathematical analysis. The mathematical theory of computation by means of these new technologies is under developed, and lags way behind the theoretical basis of digital computation.

Topics

Topological computation
Analogue computation
Computability theory
Computational physics
Axiomatisation of physics: completeness, decidability, generalisations of the Church Turing thesis
Reaction-diffusion models: including brain dynamics, BZ computers
Quantum computation (digital, analogue) and its applications (biology, mathematics, etc.)
Computability and Complexity of mechanical systems digital physics
Logical foundations of physics
Optical computation and nano computation
Philosophy of physics and computation
Physics and information
Quantum logics and quantum randomness
Relativity: spacetimes, computation, time travel, speedup, wormhole computation
Theory of measurement: axiomatisation, complexity


The meeting will commence in the evening of Tuesday August 28 with registration and a welcome reception. Talks start at 9am on Wednesday morning and finish at 2pm Friday afternoon.

Swansea University and Gower

Founded in 1920, the University stands in parkland overlooking Swansea Bay on the edge of the Gower Peninsula, Britain's first 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty'. Situated between the lively modern city of Swansea and the unspoiled beaches of the Gower Peninsula the location is unparalleled. Gower ends at the spectacular three-mile beach of Rhossili, which is a mecca for surfers. The south coast also attracts walkers, wind surfers, rock-climbers and hang-gliding enthusiasts. The Welsh Coast/Gower Peninsular was recently named as the number one region to visit in 2012 by Lonely Planet.

A Turing Year Event

Organizing Committee

Chris Allton
Edwin Beggs
Jens Blanck
John Tucker

Previous Meetings

2008 Vienna
2009 Azores
2010 On the Nile
2011 Turku

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