The Church–Turing–Deutsch-Wolfram principle: a universal computer can simulate every physical process
burny_tech · x · 2026-11-10
A explainer of the Church–Turing–Deutsch-Wolfram (CTDW) principle, a stronger physical form of the Church–Turing thesis: a universal computing device can simulate every physical process.
- Formulated independently in 1985 by Stephen Wolfram and David Deutsch. Wolfram argued universal computers are as computationally powerful as any physically realizable system, assuming finite information density and finite transmission rates.
- Deutsch noted classical physics uses real numbers that Turing machines can't represent, and proposed quantum computers may obey the principle if quantum mechanics fully describes physical processes.
- Earlier versions trace to Robin Gandy (1980), with the later Freedman–Church–Turing thesis addressing computational complexity rather than computability.
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