Parallel computation with molecular-motor-propelled agents in nanofabricated networksShow others and affiliations
2016 (English)In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, ISSN 0027-8424, E-ISSN 1091-6490, Vol. 113, no 10, p. 2591-2596Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Resource type
Text
Abstract [en]
The combinatorial nature of many important mathematical problems, including nondeterministic-polynomial-time (NP)-complete problems, places a severe limitation on the problem size that can be solved with conventional, sequentially operating electronic computers. There have been significant efforts in conceiving parallel-computation approaches in the past, for example: DNA computation, quantum computation, and microfluidics-based computation. However, these approaches have not proven, so far, to be scalable and practical from a fabrication and operational perspective. Here, we report the foundations of an alternative parallel-computation system in which a given combinatorial problem is encoded into a graphical, modular network that is embedded in a nanofabricated planar device. Exploring the network in a parallel fashion using a large number of independent, molecular-motor-propelled agents then solves the mathematical problem. This approach uses orders of magnitude less energy than conventional computers, thus addressing issues related to power consumption and heat dissipation. We provide a proof-of-concept demonstration of such a device by solving, in a parallel fashion, the small instance {2, 5, 9} of the subset sum problem, which is a benchmark NP-complete problem. Finally, we discuss the technical advances necessary to make our system scalable with presently available technology.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2016. Vol. 113, no 10, p. 2591-2596
Keywords [en]
parallel computing, molecular motors, NP complete, biocomputation, nanotechnology
National Category
Chemical Sciences
Research subject
Natural Science, Chemistry
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-51981DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1510825113ISI: 000372013300025PubMedID: 26903637Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84960532489OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-51981DiVA, id: diva2:918035
2016-04-082016-04-082017-11-30Bibliographically approved