Molecular processors: from qubits to fuzzy logic

Chemphyschem. 2011 Mar 14;12(4):739-45. doi: 10.1002/cphc.201000844. Epub 2010 Dec 14.

Abstract

Single molecules or their assemblies are information processing devices. Herein it is demonstrated how it is possible to process different types of logic through molecules. As long as decoherent effects are maintained far away from a pure quantum mechanical system, quantum logic can be processed. If the collapse of superimposed or entangled wavefunctions is unavoidable, molecules can still be used to process either crisp (binary or multi-valued) or fuzzy logic. The way for implementing fuzzy inference engines is declared and it is supported by the examples of molecular fuzzy logic systems devised so far. Fuzzy logic is drawing attention in the field of artificial intelligence, because it models human reasoning quite well. This ability may be due to some structural analogies between a fuzzy logic system and the human nervous system.