History of The Actor Model - Relationship To Physics

Relationship To Physics

According to Hewitt (2006), the Actor model is based on physics in contrast with other models of computation that were based on mathematical logic, set theory, algebra, etc. Physics influenced the Actor model in many ways, especially quantum physics and relativistic physics. One issue is what can be observed about Actor systems. The question does not have an obvious answer because it poses both theoretical and observational challenges similar to those that had arisen in constructing the foundations of quantum physics. In concrete terms for Actor systems, typically we cannot observe the details by which the arrival order of messages for an Actor is determined (see Indeterminacy in concurrent computation). Attempting to do so affects the results and can even push the indeterminacy elsewhere. e.g., see metastability in electronics. Instead of observing the insides of arbitration processes of Actor computations, we await the outcomes.