Native Chemical Computation. A Generic Application of Oscillating Chemistry Illustrated With the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction. A Review
Computing with molecules is at the center of complex natural phenomena, where the information contained in ordered sequences of molecules is used to implement functionalities of synthesized materials or to interpret the environment, as in Biology. This uses large macromolecules and the hindsight of...
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2021-05-01
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doaj-9cbe56f30fd1471892a6a6b8843769502021-05-11T06:04:31ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Chemistry2296-26462021-05-01910.3389/fchem.2021.611120611120Native Chemical Computation. A Generic Application of Oscillating Chemistry Illustrated With the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction. A ReviewMarta Dueñas-Díez0Marta Dueñas-Díez1Juan Pérez-Mercader2Juan Pérez-Mercader3Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Origins of Life Initiative, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United StatesRepsol Technology Lab, Madrid, SpainDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Origins of Life Initiative, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United StatesSanta Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, United StatesComputing with molecules is at the center of complex natural phenomena, where the information contained in ordered sequences of molecules is used to implement functionalities of synthesized materials or to interpret the environment, as in Biology. This uses large macromolecules and the hindsight of billions of years of natural evolution. But, can one implement computation with small molecules? If so, at what levels in the hierarchy of computing complexity? We review here recent work in this area establishing that all physically realizable computing automata, from Finite Automata (FA) (such as logic gates) to the Linearly Bound Automaton (LBA, a Turing Machine with a finite tape) can be represented/assembled/built in the laboratory using oscillatory chemical reactions. We examine and discuss in depth the fundamental issues involved in this form of computation exclusively done by molecules. We illustrate their implementation with the example of a programmable finite tape Turing machine which using the Belousov-Zhabotinsky oscillatory chemistry is capable of recognizing words in a Context Sensitive Language and rejecting words outside the language. We offer a new interpretation of the recognition of a sequence of chemicals representing words in the machine's language as an illustration of the “Maximum Entropy Production Principle” and concluding that word recognition by the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Turing machine is equivalent to extremal entropy production by the automaton. We end by offering some suggestions to apply the above to problems in computing, polymerization chemistry, and other fields of science.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.611120/fulloscillatory chemical systemschemical computing languagescomputing automatathermodynamics of computationTuring machinemaximum entropy principle |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Marta Dueñas-Díez Marta Dueñas-Díez Juan Pérez-Mercader Juan Pérez-Mercader |
spellingShingle |
Marta Dueñas-Díez Marta Dueñas-Díez Juan Pérez-Mercader Juan Pérez-Mercader Native Chemical Computation. A Generic Application of Oscillating Chemistry Illustrated With the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction. A Review Frontiers in Chemistry oscillatory chemical systems chemical computing languages computing automata thermodynamics of computation Turing machine maximum entropy principle |
author_facet |
Marta Dueñas-Díez Marta Dueñas-Díez Juan Pérez-Mercader Juan Pérez-Mercader |
author_sort |
Marta Dueñas-Díez |
title |
Native Chemical Computation. A Generic Application of Oscillating Chemistry Illustrated With the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction. A Review |
title_short |
Native Chemical Computation. A Generic Application of Oscillating Chemistry Illustrated With the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction. A Review |
title_full |
Native Chemical Computation. A Generic Application of Oscillating Chemistry Illustrated With the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction. A Review |
title_fullStr |
Native Chemical Computation. A Generic Application of Oscillating Chemistry Illustrated With the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction. A Review |
title_full_unstemmed |
Native Chemical Computation. A Generic Application of Oscillating Chemistry Illustrated With the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction. A Review |
title_sort |
native chemical computation. a generic application of oscillating chemistry illustrated with the belousov-zhabotinsky reaction. a review |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Chemistry |
issn |
2296-2646 |
publishDate |
2021-05-01 |
description |
Computing with molecules is at the center of complex natural phenomena, where the information contained in ordered sequences of molecules is used to implement functionalities of synthesized materials or to interpret the environment, as in Biology. This uses large macromolecules and the hindsight of billions of years of natural evolution. But, can one implement computation with small molecules? If so, at what levels in the hierarchy of computing complexity? We review here recent work in this area establishing that all physically realizable computing automata, from Finite Automata (FA) (such as logic gates) to the Linearly Bound Automaton (LBA, a Turing Machine with a finite tape) can be represented/assembled/built in the laboratory using oscillatory chemical reactions. We examine and discuss in depth the fundamental issues involved in this form of computation exclusively done by molecules. We illustrate their implementation with the example of a programmable finite tape Turing machine which using the Belousov-Zhabotinsky oscillatory chemistry is capable of recognizing words in a Context Sensitive Language and rejecting words outside the language. We offer a new interpretation of the recognition of a sequence of chemicals representing words in the machine's language as an illustration of the “Maximum Entropy Production Principle” and concluding that word recognition by the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Turing machine is equivalent to extremal entropy production by the automaton. We end by offering some suggestions to apply the above to problems in computing, polymerization chemistry, and other fields of science. |
topic |
oscillatory chemical systems chemical computing languages computing automata thermodynamics of computation Turing machine maximum entropy principle |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.611120/full |
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