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Unconventional Computational Problems with Consequences to Universality
Selim G. Akl

The majority of research in the area of unconventional computing focuses on unconventional computers. In this paper, the emphasis is on unconventional computational problems. In particular, we describe evolving computations whose characteristics vary during execution. Thus, for example, the parameters of a computation, such as the data it uses, may vary with time independently of the computational environment in which the computation is carried out. Alternatively, it may be that the data interact with one another during the computation thus changing each other’s value irreversibly. We show that evolving computations demonstrate the impossibility of achieving universality in computing, be it conventional or unconventional.

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