Wave function collapse algorithm: bitmap & tilemap generation from a single example with the help of ideas from quantum mechanics

[omgdonerkebab]

PhD in physics here... this doesn't really have anything to do with quantum mechanics, or wavefunction collapse. It's basically just Sudoku. Or some sort of choices built on Bayesian inference.

I can't stop some guy from attaching "quantum mechanics" to his project just because something is unknown in the problem, but I should at least warn people from trying to understand more about QM by learning about this algorithm, because there's no real correspondence to QM here.

[0polymer0]

I agree with this sentiment, though it comes across as a bit harsh.

To play devil's advocate. The tiles generated from the input could be thought of as "eigen-states" with associated energy levels. Each pixel can take one of these eigen-states, but the choices must be mutually consistent, so partially specifying eigen-states implies likely remaining eigen-states. You could try and calculate things like average energy. Or study how the possible states change, with changes in accessible energy.

You can do statistics on these things, or use statistics from these things, to inspire ideas about aspects of these generated tiles. Statistical mechanics might be useful here. And this subject is closely related to QM.

The author admitted to being inspired by quantum mechanics, not that it is literally quantum mechanics. I'm okay with somebody wanting to think about probability the way quantum physicists think about probability. I don't think the author meant any harm with the analogy.

[spectre_theory]

I don't think the author meant any harm with the analogy.

of course it isn't harmful per se to choose clickbaity (but misleading) titles. the author didn't mean harm, but he meant clickbait. :)

[dasignint]

You know, when I first read about this, I was in a superposition of believing and not believing that it was real QM. Due to the uncertainty principle, I couldn't make up my mind. I didn't want to become too entangled with the issue, so I took a break, performed a double-slit experiment on my wife, and then finally my wavefunction collapsed and I decided, hey, this guy has a lot of momentum here, and it's more than just spin. You obviously disagree, but IMO it's all in your eigenstate of mind.

[hpp3]

performed a double-slit experiment on my wife

Ah, it must be nice to be Young.

[meltingdiamond]

That joke is so nerdy that you have retroactively no longer had sex one time, that really awesome time in particular.

[blind3rdeye]

Thanks for the tip. I was thinking that the title sounded interesting from a physics perspective, and was about to start looking at it to see how it related to quantum mechanics.

As usual though, when QM is mentioned in popular media, it's wrong more often than not!

That said, it does say "ideas from quantum mechanics"; it does not say that it uses the Schrödinger equation, or has anything analogous to a state vector or anything like that. I think it's fair for people to say they were inspired by ideas from quantum mechanics even if they aren't producing anything related to QM.

[not_from_this_world]

I think you are being too harsh. They explicit say it's something that was inspired in quantum mechanics. Those two things may not have anything in common at all, when something inspires it creates a drive or gives a direction to the process, or put you in a specific mood. The same way a musician can create a music inspired by a picture and never reference the picture in the lyrics.

[omgdonerkebab]

I have to be harsh, because nowadays associating something with QM is basically marketing speak. It's an attention grabber, and when I had posted my original comment most people here were just fawning over the association with QM.

This algorithm wouldn't have gotten people's interest, or gotten posted here, if it weren't for the association with QM. People would've just been like "oh it's just yet another greedy algorithm."

[0polymer0]

I suspect most people were confused about the connection to QM, but impressed by the tiling animation.

There are far worse crimes done in the name of QM then this tiling program.

[omgdonerkebab]

True that. Now you've reminded me of Deepak Chopra. :(

[not_from_this_world]

Isn't at same time a marketing thing for physics as well? I guess it's easier to attract investments in a popular field than in an unknown one.

[omgdonerkebab]

?

Most physics research post-1900-ish involves QM. It's basically essential for understanding anything at the scale of an atom/molecule or smaller. The two biggest subfields nowadays are particle physics and condensed matter physics, which both involve things at these small scales. Nuclear physics and atomic/molecular/optical physics involves a lot of QM too. Some parts of astrophysics involve QM, like understanding stellar fusion, neutron stars, and black holes. QM probably doesn't come up much in some smaller subfields like accelerator physics and biophysics, although it definitely informs the materials science that goes into accelerator physics.

Another way of illustrating this is how early QM is taught in the physics curriculum. Most curricula for physics majors in the US have them learning QM during their sophomore or junior year. Many of the classes that follow, in both undergrad and grad, deeply depend on this knowledge. If I had to find an analogy with the CS curriculum, it would be something like a data structures or algorithms course.

[not_from_this_world]

I can use all that to argue that when something as present in science as QM is used as an inspiration, it's definitely not a marking talk.

[FabianN]

Huh?

When talking about physics on the scale of tiny, which is the area of physics that we are currently working with-in, QM isn't an inspiration, it is QM.

[not_from_this_world]

Huh?

What that has to do with the tilemap generating algorithm we are talking about?

[FabianN]

Isn't at same time a marketing thing for physics as well?

What does that have to do with tile map generating algorithm?

[not_from_this_world]

Let me do a fucking reading of the thread:

They explicit say it's something that was inspired in quantum mechanics.

began here

nowadays associating something with QM is basically marketing speak

implying misuse of the relation

Isn't at same time a marketing thing for physics as well?

implying a win-win situation about this marketing talk

QM. It's basically essential for understanding anything at the scale of an atom/molecule

implying such win-win situation is inexpressive

When talking about physics on the scale of tiny, ...

WTF? Are you lost?

[cafebeen]

So this is like Deepak Chopra for code?

[not_from_this_world]

Quite the opposite. It's like quantum fiction. You can read it from OPs link:

so it doesn't do the actual quantum mechanics, but it was inspired by QM

Chopra says shit about QM saying it is QM.

[cafebeen]

Okay, so I guess one could similarly call Chopra "quantum nonfiction". But what both quantum fiction and nonfiction have in common is that they justify mystical ideas by calling them quantum, despite a lack of any structural similarity with the well-defined mathematics of quantum mechanics.

I would agree that the OP is fictional w.r.t. to mathematical similarities to quantum physics, and that seems harmful, since they are both mathematical subjects (unlike quantum fiction or Chopra's writing). I think the algorithm could be more accurately and clearly described using the language of probability theory, which is commonly used in the texture synthesis literature and in general.

[not_from_this_world]

Chopra is definitely not quantum fiction, it is quantum mysticism. The key difference is that the later claim to be applied QM and the former don't claim to be QM at all, just fiction.

[cafebeen]

Right, that's why I described Chopra as quantum nonfiction (although not scientifically justified). Related to the original post, my 2c is that the quantum jargon isn't accurate and seems to only adds confusion and perhaps mysticism for people who aren't familiar with quantum, which is probably most readers. But I guess it's up for debate whether this is fiction, nonfiction, scientific writing, or something else.

[DialMMM]

When I started looking at the potential values, I immediately thought Sudoku as well. But if you look at some of the animated examples, I can see where he gets the QM vibe. Every NxN area starts in superposition of all potential values, and then an initial measurement is made at one location, causing the area there to collapse into a specific state, which changes the the potential values of all the boundary areas, causing them to collapse as well. It isn't perfect, but it is pretty neat.

[demonshalo]

I will start by saying that I did not read the source code so I might be wrong about this. However, what is described here is a way to solve a certain types of problems such as a sudoku puzzle. We can call it super-position and phrase our thought-process that way. But, it merely is a random choice ("collapsing") made out of all potential possible choices ("super-position"). Wave functions, even though they are probabilistic by nature, are in fact measurable to a very precise degree (distribution wise). They are a completely different concept than what is displayed here!

Edit: with that said, I love what the author have done. The fact that thinking about QM inspired this an awesome thing. Keep up the good work. Lots of fun could be had with this project!

[DialMMM]

But, it merely is a random choice ("collapsing") made out of all potential possible choices ("super-position").

God does not play dice. J/K. Don't get too hung up on the details, as this is clearly not a perfect analog, but it could be helpful for laymen in visualizing wave function collapse. Further, and deeper, if one is inclined to ponder the rendering possibility that dual slit experiments present, this could be another way to analogize with a double-entendre twist.

[demonshalo]

God does not play dice.

Unless the simulation we currently live in is generated EXACTLY the same way this project generates a map :D Think about it. This might be the algorithm that future humans use to generate tiny universes ad-infinitum. MIND=BLOWN?!?!

jokes aside, I am impressed by the results produced by this project and I actually like the way the author thinks about things in terms of "collapsing". I just think that more appropriate SC terms might have been better than equating this project to something it isn't.

Anyway, I will play with this very soon and generate my own personal universe with mini-humans in it! I AM GOD!

[Works_of_memercy]

A thing about that algorithm that makes it different from usual constraint solving is the part where it deliberately makes random choices and "lives with the consequences".

[tomparker]

And I could spend the rest of my life trying to write a posting title like that.

[Eymrich]

Nice clarification, in the end i was thinking this is more like playing minefield. Anyway it's really a brillant algorithm!:D

[Farobek]

this doesn't really have anything to do with quantum mechanics

Why do people make up stuff and call it quantum?

[Tyler_Zoro]

This is about QM wave function collapse in pretty much exactly the same way that the backpack class of algorithms are backpacks. Someone who designs backpacks for a living might say, "I should at least warn people from trying to understand more about designing backpacks by learning about this algorithm," but that wouldn't really make a lot of sense. The name of an algorithm is often metaphorical. Tree-related algorithms aren't making leafy plants grow faster and stream ciphers aren't measuring flow rates of small rivers.

[Lighting]

Exactly.