Synopsis
Is the universe actually a giant quantum computer? According to Seth Lloyd, Professor of Quantum-Mechanical Engineering at MIT and originator of the first technologically feasible design for a working quantum computer, the answer is yes. This wonderfully accessible book illuminates the professional and personal paths that led him to this remarkable conclusion.
All interactions between particles in the universe, Lloyd explains, convey not only energy but also information -- in other words, particles not only collide, they compute. And what is the entire universe computing, ultimately? Its own dynamical evolution, he says. As the computation proceeds, reality unfolds.
To elucidate his theory, Lloyd examines the history of the cosmos, posing questions that in other hands might seem unfathomably complex: How much information is there in the universe? What information existed at the moment of the Big Bang and what happened to it? How do quantum mechanics and chaos theory interact to create our world? Could we attempt to re-create it on a giant quantum computer?
Programming the Universe presents an original and compelling vision of reality, revealing our world in an entirely new light.
Publishers Weekly
Lloyd, a professor at MIT, works in the vanguard of research in quantum computing: using the quantum mechanical properties of atoms as a computer. He contends that the universe itself is one big quantum computer producing what we see around us, and ourselves, as it runs a cosmic program. According to Lloyd, once we understand the laws of physics completely, we will be able to use small-scale quantum computing to understand the universe completely as well. In his scenario, the universe is processing information. The second law of thermodynamics (disorder increases) is all about information, and Lloyd spends much of the book explaining how quantum processes convey information. The creation of the universe itself involved information processing: random fluctuations in the quantum foam, like a random number generator in a computer program, produced higher-density areas, then matter, stars, galaxies and life. Lloyd's hypothesis bears important implications for the red-hot evolution-versus-intelligent design debate, since he argues that divine intervention isn't necessary to produce complexity and life. Unfortunately, he rushes through what should be the climax of his argument. Nevertheless, Lloyd throws out many fascinating ideas. (For another take on information theory, see Decoding the Universe on p.53.) 12 b&w illus. 100,000 first printing. (Mar. 17) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.