A Universal Quantum Computer Is Possible!

In a recent edition of Thoughts While Shaving (August 8, 2024), Aletheia Today (AT)  proposed that the Universe might itself be a giant Quantum Computer with every bit in  superposition. Now scientists have released new findings that support that possibility. 

Physicists have created a new model for quantum computers that could more easily scale  them up to make them more powerful than previously thought possible. The new theory,  outlined in a recent study published in the journal PRX Quantum, proposes linking qubits,  the fundamental workhorses of quantum computers, over vast distances to work as if  they were part of a single super-powerful machine. 

These qubits can then be stitched together through quantum entanglement, linking their  data across vast spans of spacetime, to process calculations in parallel. The more qubits  are entangled, the more exponentially powerful a quantum computer can become. 

According to our (AT’s) version of this model, there is one ‘Universe’ with 10^80 bits, all  potentially in a state of quantum superposition (i.e., not 0 or 1 but 0 and 1). Accordingly,  there are 10^160 possible ‘universes’, i.e. unique combinations of decohered (0 or 1)  quantum states.  

Perhaps unexpectedly, the Book of Genesis captures this model explicitly. Prior to the  primal creative act (Fiat Lux!), “…the earth was without form or shape with darkness over  the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters” (1: 2). What better metaphor could  there be for ‘universal quantum superposition’? 

At any given moment in time, we are living in a version of Universe in which some quantum  bits (Q-bits) are still in superposition while others have already decohered. (Time is not an  element in Universe if decoherence is either 0% or 100%.) 

Imagine a bucket of water. As the temperature cools, the water will gradually, not suddenly,  transition from a liquid to a solid (ice) state. Like the surface of a shallow pond, ice first  forms at the surface and along the edges and then gradually spreads until the entire body  of water is frozen solid. The constituent molecules, randomly jumbled in the liquid state,  gradually assume a fixed alignment according to the principles of crystallography.  

Our Universe is currently in such a process of crystallization. We experience that process  as ‘time’, the gradual transition from ‘pure potentiality’ (Aristotle) to total actuality. This  model potentially resolves the perennial philosophical challenge of reconciling stability  with flux. This problem fascinated the founders of Western philosophy (e.g. Parmenides and Heraclitus, 5th century BCE) as well as its last great systematic thinker, Alfred North  Whitehead (c. 1930 CE). The challenge is transmuted into a prayer in an Anglican hymn:  “Abide in me, fast falls the eventide.” Permanence amid flux! 

From here and now, we would expect additional Q-bits to decohere, ultimately resulting in  a universal and eternal steady state. Could that be the much anticipated Kingdom of  Heaven (Whitehead)? Or much dreaded Heat Death (Penrose)? Or the Block Universe we  hear so much about these days? 

Our model, however, raises an additional question: If the Universe is in a state of  superposition, how is it that any of its Q-bits ever decohere? According to standard  quantum theory, decoherence only happens when a Q-bit comes in contact with an  outside agent, a measurement tool, e.g. a nosey physicist.  

Decoherence, like ice, is contagious. But if the entire Universe is in a state of superposition,  how is it that any portion of it can decohere? Traditionally, the role of universal outside  agent, the cosmic other, has been assigned to God. But for those of you who are  ‘enlightened’ and therefore God-phobic, we don’t need that hypothesis. 

The phenomenon of universal, reciprocal Incarnation will do the trick. The Universe is  incarnate in each of its component entities just as each such entity is incarnate in the  Universe. Anaxagoras realized this 2500 years ago. Pan in Panti he called  it. Therefore, everything has the potential to function as an outside agent relative to  anything else. The end is implicit (not necessarily determined) in the beginning. 

Bertrand Russell notwithstanding, just as ø is a member of every set, so every set must be a  member of itself. Universe is maximally recursive. Universe is recursion. What we  experience as ‘time’ (above) is the process of the Universe decohering.  

This model reflects our everyday experience in realms far removed from icy lakes. For  example, assume 20 legit candidates announce plans to run for President of the United  States in the next cycle. The outcome is highly uncertain. Gradually, the number of possible  ‘final states’ (outcomes) reduces. On Election Day, the remaining Q-bits ‘collapse’ and we  are left with one bit with a value of 1 (all others are 0). We call that Q-bit POTUS.

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