SearcharxivSearch

arXiv · 2409.12179

Computational Dynamical Systems

Abstract

We study the computational complexity theory of smooth, finite-dimensional dynamical systems. Building off of previous work, we give definitions for what it means for a smooth dynamical system to simulate a Turing machine. We then show that 'chaotic' dynamical systems (more precisely, Axiom A systems) and 'integrable' dynamical systems (more generally, measure-preserving systems) cannot robustly simulate universal Turing machines, although such machines can be robustly simulated by other kinds of dynamical systems. Subsequently, we show that any Turing machine that can be encoded into a structurally stable one-dimensional dynamical system must have a decidable halting problem, and moreover an explicit time complexity bound in instances where it does halt. More broadly, our work elucidates what it means for one 'machine' to simulate another, and emphasizes the necessity of defining low-complexity 'encoders' and 'decoders' to translate between the dynamics of the simulation and the system being simulated. We highlight how the notion of a computational dynamical system leads to questions at the intersection of computational complexity theory, dynamical systems theory, and real algebraic geometry.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Jordan Cotler, Semon Rezchikov. 2024-09-18. Computational Dynamical Systems. https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.12179

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

The Computational Complexity of Holant Problems on 4-regular Graphs from the Stable Subgroup Sequence of $SL(2,\mathbb{C})$

The Holant framework provides a general setting for studying counting problems and includes graph homomorphisms (\#GH) and counting constraint satisfaction problems (\#CSP) as special cases. Over the past twenty years, a series of computational complexity dichotomies have been established for Holant problems, but the classification for complex-valued signatures is still open. The main obstacle is the case in which all signatures have even arity. In this paper, we establish a dichotomy for Holant problems with a complex-valued 4-ary signature, which is a key base case for the full classification of Holant problems. We present a new strategy by introducing Schur's theorem, the classification of finite subgroups of $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{C})$ and stable subgroup sequences into the proof. These new techniques are of independent interest.

cs.CC

Topology inside NC$^1$

We show that ACC$^0$ is precisely what can be computed with constant-width circuits of polynomial size and polylogarithmic genus. This extends a characterization given by Hansen, showing that planar constant-width circuits also characterize ACC$^0$. Thus polylogarithmic genus provides no additional computational power in this model. We consider other generalizations of planarity, including crossing number and thickness. We show that constant-width circuits of polynomial size and thickness two already suffice to capture all of NC$^1$.

cs.CC