We understand all natural things around us by their input-response behavior, for example we perceive neurological networks as transducing sensory inputs to electrical impulses known as spike trains, meanwhile photosynthesis is a mechanism for converting electro-magnetic energy to chemical energy.
In this preprint, we ask whether our understanding of such phenomena depend on the information theory we use. We show that in general the simplest explanation of how such systems behave, the one which posits the least causes to inform future expectations of how the process will behave, are in general quantum mechanical. Such that the processes look remarkably simpler when viewed through the lens of quantum theory. In answering this question, we establish a much broader class of processes where it is simpler to be quantum. This gives a much greater imperative to nature processes to privilege the laws of quantum mechanics.
- Using quantum theory to reduce the complexity of input-output processes.
Jayne Thompson, Andrew J. P. Garner, Vlatko Vedral, and Mile Gu. arXiv:1601.05420v1
