Unpredictability and computational irreducibility
type: Dataset
description: We explore several concepts for analyzing the intuitive notion of computational irreducibility and we propose a robust formal definition, first in the field of cellular automata and then in the general field of any computable function f from N to N. We prove that, through a robust definition of what means "to be unable to compute the nth step without having to follow the same path than simulating the automaton or the function", this implies genuinely, as intuitively expected, that if the behavior of an object is computationally irreducible, no computation of its nth state can be faster than the simulation itself.
landing page: 10 Years After Wolfram's A New Kind of Science (Emergence, Complexity and Computation)
identifier: ISBN: 978-3-642-35481-6
keyword: book-sections
keyword: cellular-automata
keyword: complexity
keyword: computation
keyword: infoeu-reposemanticsbookpart
keyword: irreducibility
keyword: logical-depth
keyword: shshisphilsohumanities-and-social-scienceshistory-philosophy-and-sociology-of-sciences
issued: 2026-05-15T07:51:36.089755
modified: 2026-05-15T07:51:36.089761
language: en
contact point: Organization
  fn: CCSD

test_moissonnage_selune
type: Agent

Unpredictability and computational irreducibility
type: Distribution
format: HTML
access URL: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00775748
issued: 2026-05-15T07:51:36.116242
modified: 2026-05-15T07:51:36.070627