Limits on Efficient Computation in the Physical World
E1002077
"Limits on Efficient Computation in the Physical World" is a research work by Scott Aaronson that explores how the laws of physics constrain what can be computed efficiently, particularly in the context of quantum computing and complexity theory.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Limits on Efficient Computation in the Physical World canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T12797750 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Limits on Efficient Computation in the Physical World Context triple: [Scott Aaronson, notableWork, Limits on Efficient Computation in the Physical World]
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A.
“Probabilistic computations: Toward a unified measure of complexity”
“Probabilistic computations: Toward a unified measure of complexity” is a seminal research paper by Andrew Yao that laid foundational concepts in computational complexity theory, particularly regarding the role and analysis of randomness in algorithms.
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B.
Computational Complexity: A Conceptual Perspective
Computational Complexity: A Conceptual Perspective is a graduate-level textbook that presents the foundations and key themes of computational complexity theory with an emphasis on conceptual understanding over technical detail.
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C.
Bennett's logical reversibility
Bennett's logical reversibility is a concept in computation theory stating that computational processes can be designed so that each step is logically reversible, allowing information to be recovered and, in principle, computation to occur without energy dissipation.
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D.
Randomness and Computation
"Randomness and Computation" is Shafi Goldwasser's influential doctoral thesis that helped lay the foundations of modern complexity theory and cryptography by rigorously exploring the role of randomness in efficient computation.
-
E.
Blum complexity measures
Blum complexity measures are a formal framework in computational complexity theory that rigorously define and compare the resource usage (such as time or space) of algorithms via axiomatic conditions.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Limits on Efficient Computation in the Physical World Target entity description: "Limits on Efficient Computation in the Physical World" is a research work by Scott Aaronson that explores how the laws of physics constrain what can be computed efficiently, particularly in the context of quantum computing and complexity theory.
-
A.
“Probabilistic computations: Toward a unified measure of complexity”
“Probabilistic computations: Toward a unified measure of complexity” is a seminal research paper by Andrew Yao that laid foundational concepts in computational complexity theory, particularly regarding the role and analysis of randomness in algorithms.
-
B.
Computational Complexity: A Conceptual Perspective
Computational Complexity: A Conceptual Perspective is a graduate-level textbook that presents the foundations and key themes of computational complexity theory with an emphasis on conceptual understanding over technical detail.
-
C.
Bennett's logical reversibility
Bennett's logical reversibility is a concept in computation theory stating that computational processes can be designed so that each step is logically reversible, allowing information to be recovered and, in principle, computation to occur without energy dissipation.
-
D.
Randomness and Computation
"Randomness and Computation" is Shafi Goldwasser's influential doctoral thesis that helped lay the foundations of modern complexity theory and cryptography by rigorously exploring the role of randomness in efficient computation.
-
E.
Blum complexity measures
Blum complexity measures are a formal framework in computational complexity theory that rigorously define and compare the resource usage (such as time or space) of algorithms via axiomatic conditions.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (45)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
research paper
ⓘ
scientific article ⓘ |
| aim |
to characterize which physical theories would allow solving hard problems efficiently
ⓘ
to connect open problems in physics with open problems in complexity theory ⓘ |
| approach |
comparison of classical and quantum computational models
ⓘ
complexity-theoretic analysis of physical models ⓘ thought experiments based on alternative physical theories ⓘ |
| author | Scott Aaronson ⓘ |
| conclusion |
known laws of physics do not appear to allow efficient solution of NP-complete problems
ⓘ
quantum mechanics increases computational power but likely not enough to solve NP-complete problems in polynomial time ⓘ small changes to physical laws could dramatically change computational power ⓘ |
| creator | Scott Aaronson ⓘ |
| examines |
computational implications of closed timelike curves
ⓘ
computational implications of nonlinear quantum mechanics ⓘ computational implications of postselected quantum measurements ⓘ whether quantum gravity could change computational complexity ⓘ |
| field |
computational complexity theory
ⓘ
physics of computation ⓘ quantum computing ⓘ theoretical computer science ⓘ |
| focus |
how physical laws constrain efficient computation
ⓘ
implications of quantum mechanics for computational power ⓘ whether exotic physical theories could solve NP-complete problems efficiently ⓘ |
| genre |
academic research
ⓘ
survey and position paper ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| position |
complexity theory can help rule out unphysical theories
ⓘ
computational complexity provides constraints on possible physical laws ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Church–Turing thesis
ⓘ
NP-completeness ⓘ computational models based on exotic physics ⓘ extended Church–Turing thesis ⓘ
linked to:
Church–Turing thesis
physical limits of computation ⓘ quantum speedups ⓘ |
| topic |
BQP
ⓘ
NP ⓘ black-hole computation thought experiments ⓘ hypercomputation thought experiments ⓘ limits of efficient computation ⓘ nonlinear quantum mechanics and computation ⓘ physical Church–Turing thesis ⓘ postselection in quantum computation ⓘ quantum complexity classes ⓘ relationship between physics and complexity theory ⓘ relativistic computation ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Limits on Efficient Computation in the Physical World Description of subject: "Limits on Efficient Computation in the Physical World" is a research work by Scott Aaronson that explores how the laws of physics constrain what can be computed efficiently, particularly in the context of quantum computing and complexity theory.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.