Public Lecture Abstract

Wednesday, April 23, 2008 • 7:30 PM • Armory for the Arts, 1050 Old Pecos Trail

Seth Lloyd Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Programming the Universe

Is the universe a giant computer? If so, how does it compute? It has been known since the nineteenth century that every atom in the universe carries with it bits of information, and that every time two atoms collide, those bits flip. The universe is carrying out a computation at the most microscopic level. This talk discusses the implications of the computing universe, ranging from quantum computation and quantum gravity, to the problem of free will and the ultimate future of life.

This lecture is underwritten by RedfishGroup, Santa Fe