MemComputing vs. Quantum Computing: some analogies and major differences

TL;DR

This paper compares MemComputing, a non-quantum, memory-based dynamical paradigm, with Quantum Computing, highlighting fundamental physical and mathematical differences such as phase space versus Hilbert space, non-perturbative collective dynamics, and determinism versus probabilistic behavior. It argues that MemComputing can be efficiently emulated in software and implemented in CMOS hardware at room temperature, while QCs require hardware realization at cryogenic temperatures and face exponential resource growth in simulation. Key distinctions include memory-driven long-range order versus entanglement, nonlinear instanton dynamics versus linear quantum evolution, and deterministic versus probabilistic computation. These differences have important implications for solving hard combinatorial optimization problems and suggest fruitful cross-pollination between the two paradigms.

Abstract

Quantum computing employs some quantum phenomena to process information. It has been hailed as the future of computing but it is plagued by serious hurdles when it comes to its practical realization. MemComputing is a new paradigm that instead employs non-quantum dynamical systems and exploits time non-locality (memory) to compute. It can be efficiently emulated in software and its path towards hardware is more straightforward. I will discuss some analogies between these two computing paradigms, and the major differences that set them apart.