Computing through a reusable surface
Can a change of representation replace repeated computation with operations on a reusable surface?
Explore encoding a spatial or temporal structure in an interference-like representation and computing changes or views from it; evaluate preparation cost, reconstruction cost, approximation, and representational limits.
Status: open problem. Formulation and comparisons: reconstruction. Development: independent branch.
Alternative representations
An interference-based physical representation
Affords: Connects spatial information with a physical surface.
Limits or losses: Capacity and reconstruction depend on the actual physical setup.
A computed surface for rendering or simulation
Affords: Moves repeated work into a reusable representation.
Limits or losses: Preparation and dynamic updates may cost more than direct computation.
Tension
A cheap view after expensive preparation is beneficial only for a suitable pattern of reuse.
Challenge
Which updates remain local after the transformation, and which require recomputing the surface?
This challenge is an editorial prompt, not a claim that the evidence already resolved it.
Proposed next move
Compare total preparation, update, and query costs against direct computation for several reuse counts.
Status: new model-proposed experiment or extension; not a reported result.
Related problems
- How much of a whole can a part carry? — shares a word with different meanings (retrospective_connection). Physical or computed surfaces and distributed social information can invite a holographic analogy, but they need separate encodings and validation.
- Finding a strategy by changing the representation — asks whether transformation saves work (retrospective_connection). Both move effort into a representation. Preparation, planning, and execution costs must remain separately counted.
Evidence anchors
- basis-computation-through-a-surface: The material proposes translating physical interactions into changes in an interference pattern and asks about storage capacity. A later rendering proposal stores stable structures in a computational hologram and simulates moving parts through the surface, while asking whether the calculation becomes more complex or requires recomputing every section. [Editorial paraphrase; presence of a proposal does not verify its truth.]
Root evidence and private recovery mappings are not part of this public release.