Unifying Physical and Biological Computation via Category Theory: A Cross-Disciplinary Design Framework

neurovium · x · 2026-07-30

This blog post serves as a companion to a paper published in the Journal of Physics: Complexity, titled "A category-theoretic perspective on physical computation, biological computation, and system compositionality."

It explores unconventional computation, asking the reverse of classical computer science: given a physical system (like a quantum device or biological network), when is it actually computing?

Using the formal machinery of category theory, the author connects wave physics, reservoir computing, neuromorphic systems, and biological recurrence. The framework yields a cross-disciplinary design principle: physical reservoir → internal readout basin → operation selection → altered reservoir dynamics.

Related event: New Framework and Criteria for Physical Computing Proposed(4 posts)→

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