Understanding Computation

An understanding of emergent computation requires a profound revision of the most fundamental ideas. A noticeable attempt of such a rethinking is a world view in which natural systems are seen not as separate entities but as integrated parts of a unified whole. The book for the first time presents such a mathematical structure, which remarkably is based on integers as the single concept. As integers are considered to be the most fundamental entities irreducible to something simpler, this makes the mathematical structure a final theory, and thus we do not have to look for its explanation in terms of deeper concepts. The book is not only applicable to models of computation and optimization but also has scientific consequences, as it contributes to a rethinking of the most fundamental ideas about nature.