Bounds on the rates of growth and convergence of all physical processes

Abstract

The upper limit on what is computable in our universe is unknown, but widely believed to be set by the Turing machine -- with a function being physically computable if and only if it is Turing-computable. I show how this apparently mild assumption leads to generous yet binding limits on how quickly or slowly any directly measurable physical phenomenon can grow or converge -- limits that are intimately connected to Rado's Busy Beaver function. I conjecture that these limits are novel physical laws governing which rates of growth and convergence are possible in our universe.

12 pages, 2 figures