Parallel Computation and Measurement Uncertainty in Nonlinear Dynamical Systems

In certain physical systems measuring one variable of the system modi es the values of any number of other variables unpredictably. We show in this paper that under these conditions a parallel approach succeeds in carrying out the required measurement while a sequential approach fails. Speci cally, we show that for a nonlinear dynamical system, namely, the Belousov-Zhabotinskii chemical reaction, measurement disturbs the equilibrium of the system and causes it to enter into an undesired state. If, however, several measurements are performed in parallel, the e ect of perturbations seems to cancel out and the system remains in a stable state.