A theoretical computer built in a mixed-up mathematical universe might not sound like the most practical invention. But the discovery shows that computation can turn up in the most unlikely places, which in turn might spur more realistic models of physical and chemical processes.
The computer is what's known as a universal Turing machine, a theoretical construct invented by mathematician Alan Turing that's capable of simulating any computer algorithm. The computers we use today are approximations of Turing's idealised machine.
Katsunobu Imai at Hiroshima University in Japan and colleagues have found a way to bring Turing's computational order to an irregular universe based on Penrose tiles – a feat that was considered highly improbable until now.
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