Towards Quantifying Complexity with Quantum Mechanics

TL;DR

This paper explores how quantum logic can simplify models of process complexity, proposing a new quantum-based complexity measure that better aligns with intuitive notions of complexity.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum $ ext{epsilon}$-machine complexity measure and demonstrates its advantages over classical models in capturing process complexity.

Findings

Quantum $ ext{epsilon}$-machines simplify complexity modeling.

The quantum measure aligns more closely with intuitive complexity.

Application to thermalization shows improved complexity assessment.

Abstract

While we have intuitive notions of structure and complexity, the formalization of this intuition is non-trivial. The statistical complexity is a popular candidate. It is based on the idea that the complexity of a process can be quantified by the complexity of its simplest mathematical model - the model that requires the least past information for optimal future prediction. Here we review how such models, known as $\epsilon$-machines can be further simplified through quantum logic, and explore the resulting consequences for understanding complexity. In particular, we propose a new measure of complexity based on quantum $\epsilon$-machines. We apply this to a simple system undergoing constant thermalization. The resulting quantum measure of complexity aligns more closely with our intuition of how complexity should behave.