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Supertask

A supertask is a hypothetical process consisting of a countably infinite sequence of discrete actions or operations that are completed sequentially within a finite duration of time.^[1] The concept challenges intuitions about infinity, time, and completion, as the infinite steps must accelerate such that their durations sum to a finite total, often following a convergent series like the geometric series with ratio 1/2.^[2] The idea of supertasks traces back to ancient paradoxes, particularly those posed by Zeno of Elea in the fifth century BCE, such as the dichotomy paradox where a traveler must traverse infinitely many subintervals to cover a finite distance.^[1] The modern term "supertask" was coined by philosopher James F. Thomson in his 1954 paper "Tasks and Super-Tasks," where he argued that such processes lead to inherent impossibilities due to ambiguities in their final states.^[1] Since then, supertasks have been analyzed in philosophy, mathematics, and physics, with key contributions from figures like Max Black (1950–51) and collections such as Wesley Salmon's Zeno's Paradoxes (1970), which formalized their discussion.^[2] Prominent examples illustrate the paradoxes arising from supertasks. In Thomson's lamp, a lamp is toggled on and off at intervals halving toward a limit time (e.g., 2 minutes total), raising the question of whether it is on or off at the endpoint, as no last toggle occurs.^[1] The Ross-Littlewood paradox involves adding and removing balls from a vase in infinite steps (10 added, 1 removed per step, accelerating), resulting in an empty vase at the end despite net additions.^[1] Other cases include Hilbert's infinite hotel, where guests shift rooms infinitely to accommodate new arrivals, and relativistic spacetimes like Malament-Hogarth structures, which permit infinite computation in finite proper time for observers.^[1] Philosophical debates center on whether supertasks are logically coherent, physically realizable, or merely conceptual tools for exploring infinity. Critics like Thomson contend they produce contradictions, such as indeterminate final states, while proponents argue paradoxes stem from additional assumptions like continuity rather than infinity itself.^[2] In physics, quantum and relativistic variants suggest supertasks could enable hypercomputation, though empirical constraints like the speed of light limit classical implementations.^[1] These discussions continue to influence fields from metaphysics to computability theory.^[1]

Definition and Fundamentals

Core Definition

A supertask is defined as a procedure consisting of a countable infinity of distinct tasks or operations performed in succession, where the durations of these tasks form a convergent series such that the entire infinite sequence completes in a finite amount of time. This concept, introduced by philosopher James F. Thomson, emphasizes the possibility of executing infinitely many steps without extending into infinite duration, relying on progressively shortening intervals between tasks. The mathematical foundation for such completion lies in convergent infinite series, particularly geometric series. For example, consider tasks performed at times t_n = \sum_{k=1}^n \frac{1}{2^k} = 1 - \frac{1}{2^n} for n = 1, 2, [3, \dots](/page/3_Dots), approaching the limit t = 1 as n \to \infty; the total time elapsed is the sum of the intervals \frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{8} + \cdots = \sum_{n=1}^\infty \left( \frac{1}{2} \right)^n = [1](/page/1). Here, the series converges because |r| = \frac{1}{2} < [1](/page/1), with the general formula \sum_{n=1}^\infty r^n = \frac{r}{1-r} for |r| < [1](/page/1). This acceleration of task timing distinguishes supertasks from unbounded infinite processes, which do not terminate in finite time. A key conceptual challenge in supertasks is the "task completion problem," which questions the determinate state of the system at the exact limit point (e.g., precisely at t = 1) following the infinite sequence, as there is no final task to establish the outcome. This issue highlights potential indeterminacies arising from the transition from finite partial sequences to the completed supertask.

Mathematical Formulation

A supertask is formally defined as a sequence of states given by a function f: \mathbb{N} \to A, where \mathbb{N} denotes the natural numbers and A is a state space (such as a set of possible configurations of a system), paired with a strictly increasing sequence of timestamps t_n satisfying t_1 < t_2 < \dots < T, \lim_{n \to \infty} t_n = T for some finite time T, and \sum_{n=1}^\infty (t_{n+1} - t_n) < \infty.^[3] This ensures that infinitely many operations occur sequentially before the finite deadline T, with the total elapsed time remaining bounded. The state at completion is then ideally \lim_{n \to \infty} f(n), provided the limit exists in A. The role of limits and convergence is central to this formulation, as the supremum of the completion times must be finite to model a "completed" infinite process. The sequence t_n converges to T in the topological sense: for every \epsilon > 0, there exists N \in \mathbb{N} such that for all n > N, |t_n - T| < \epsilon. This \epsilon-\delta definition (or equivalent for general topologies) guarantees that after finitely many steps, all subsequent operations occur within any arbitrarily small interval before T, while the convergence of the series \sum (t_{n+1} - t_n) ensures the aggregate duration is finite, often via comparison to a geometric series like \sum (1/2)^n = 1. Without such convergence, the process would extend indefinitely, precluding a supertask.^[4] Non-standard analysis extends this framework by incorporating hyperreal numbers *\mathbb{R}, which include infinitesimals and infinite integers, to model supertask dynamics more intuitively. Here, time steps can be taken as infinitesimal \delta \approx 0 (e.g., \delta = 1/H for infinite hypernatural H), allowing an infinite number of steps \sum_{k=1}^H \delta = 1 (finite in the standard part) while preserving sequentiality. This approach resolves some ambiguities in standard real analysis by treating the "instant" at T as a hyperreal point encompassing infinitesimal intervals post-convergence.^[5] The resolvability of a supertask—specifically, the existence of a well-defined limit state \lim_{n \to \infty} f(n)—depends on properties of the state space A. For instance, if A is a compact metric space, every infinite sequence in A admits a convergent subsequence by the Bolzano-Weierstrass theorem, and under additional conditions like uniform continuity of the state transitions, the full sequence converges to a unique limit in A. However, without compactness or completeness, the limit may fail to exist or be indeterminate, as the pre-limit states do not necessarily determine a unique post-limit configuration.^[4]

Historical Origins

Zeno's Paradoxes

Zeno of Elea (c. 490–430 BCE) was a pre-Socratic philosopher associated with the Eleatic school, renowned for devising paradoxes that rigorously challenged the infinite divisibility of space and time, as well as the reality of motion and plurality.^[6] These arguments, preserved primarily through Aristotle's accounts, aimed to defend the Eleatic doctrine that the universe is a static, unchanging whole, rejecting sensory perceptions of change as illusory.^[7] The Eleatic school, originating with Xenophanes around 570 BCE and systematized by Parmenides (c. 515–450 BCE), emphasized a monistic ontology where true being is eternal and indivisible, denying the possibility of motion, becoming, or multiple entities as logical contradictions.^[8] Zeno, as a disciple of Parmenides, employed dialectical reasoning to expose inconsistencies in pluralistic views, using reductio ad absurdum to argue that accepting motion leads to paradoxes, thereby supporting the school's immaterialist and anti-empiricist stance.^[9] The Dichotomy paradox asserts that motion is impossible because, to travel a finite distance—say, from point A to B—an object must first traverse half the distance, then half of the remaining half, and so forth, resulting in an infinite sequence of subtasks that cannot be completed in finite time, despite each subinterval requiring a positive duration.^[7] This structure highlights the problem of infinite divisibility: the total time for these infinite halves sums to the full journey time, yet the infinite steps appear unachievable.^[8] Similarly, the Achilles and the tortoise paradox illustrates the same issue through a pursuit scenario: a swift runner like Achilles, pursuing a slower tortoise with a head start, must first reach the tortoise's initial position, but by then the tortoise has advanced a bit further, necessitating another catch-up, ad infinitum, such that Achilles never overtakes despite the finite overall time required.^[7] Here, the infinite intervals decrease geometrically, underscoring a supertask-like infinite regress within bounded time, challenging the coherence of continuous motion in divisible space.^[6] The Arrow paradox extends this critique to instantaneous states: at any given moment, an arrow in flight occupies a determinate space equal to its length and is thus motionless relative to that space; if time consists of such indivisible instants, the aggregation of these static moments precludes any motion whatsoever, implying that all apparent change is illusory.^[7] This argument prefigures concerns over infinite state transitions in supertasks, as it questions how discrete rests can compose continuous action.^[8] In contemporary terms, the Dichotomy and Achilles paradoxes find resolution via convergent infinite series, where the sum of diminishing terms equals a finite value, though philosophical debates persist on the physical realizability of such infinities.^[6]

Early Modern Interpretations

In the early modern period, Galileo Galilei provided one of the first systematic engagements with infinite quantities in the context of continuous motion and divisibility, ideas resonant with Zeno's ancient paradoxes. In his Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences (1638), Galileo argued for the infinite divisibility of material continua, such as lines and solids, while acknowledging the counterintuitive nature of infinite collections. He illustrated this through a paradox involving matching infinities: the set of natural numbers can be put into one-to-one correspondence with the set of their squares, despite the latter being a proper subset of the former, suggesting that traditional notions of size fail for infinities. This handling of infinite enumerations prefigured concerns in supertasks by demonstrating how infinite processes could yield paradoxical equalities without physical completion.^[10] Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz extended these ideas in the late 17th century by developing infinitesimal calculus as a tool for modeling infinite processes within finite durations, offering a metaphysical and mathematical framework for continuous change. In works like Monadology (1714), Leibniz posited monads—simple, indivisible substances—as the fundamental units of reality, each perceiving the universe through an infinite series of states unfolding continuously over time, governed by the Principle of Continuity. His calculus treated infinitesimals as syncategorematic fictions: useful approximations for derivatives and integrals that resolve apparent discontinuities in motion, such as those implied by infinite subdivisions of space or time. This approach implicitly addressed supertask-like infinities by allowing infinite approximations to converge in finite steps, bridging philosophical puzzles of indivisibility with practical computation.^[11]^[10] George Berkeley mounted a significant critique in the 18th century, rejecting Leibnizian infinitesimals as philosophically incoherent and fueling skepticism toward infinite processes. In The Analyst (1734), Berkeley derided these quantities as "ghosts of departed quantities," arguing they oscillate inconsistently between zero and non-zero without clear ontological status, thus undermining the foundations of calculus used to handle infinite divisions. His attack highlighted the risks of assuming infinite tasks could be meaningfully "performed" in continua, influencing later caution in interpreting supertasks as actual sequences rather than ideal limits.^[12]^[10] The 19th century saw a pivotal shift toward rigorization, with Augustin-Louis Cauchy providing a rigorous treatment of limits in his Cours d'analyse (1821), which demonstrated the convergence of infinite sums, such as geometric series representing successive halvings in the dichotomy paradox, to finite values without invoking actual infinities.^[10] Karl Weierstrass further refined this framework in the 1850s–1860s by introducing epsilon-delta definitions for limits, continuity, and derivatives, ensuring the real number line has no gaps and allowing infinite processes to be analyzed as completed wholes in finite time. This development implicitly dissolved supertask paradoxes by showing that infinite divisions need not imply physical impossibility, paving the way for 20th-century revivals in philosophy and logic.^[12]

Formative 20th-Century Contributions

Max Black's Analysis

In his 1951 paper "Achilles and the Tortoise," Max Black provided an early modern analysis of supertasks by examining Zeno's paradox of Achilles and the tortoise.^[13] Black accepted that the infinite series of distances sums to a finite total but argued that completing the supertask remains impossible because the sequence has no final step. Without a last action to conclude the process, the task cannot be coherently finished, leading to a logical incoherence in actual infinities.^[1] This emphasis on the absence of a terminating action in infinite sequences influenced subsequent discussions, including Thomson's later formulation of supertasks.^[1]

Thomson's Lamp Paradox

James F. Thomson introduced the concept of a supertask in his 1954 paper to critique the logical possibility of completing an infinite number of tasks within a finite duration, arguing that such processes involving actual infinities in time lead to absurdities.^[14] Motivated by Zeno's paradoxes and Bertrand Russell's suggestions about accelerating task performance, Thomson sought to demonstrate that supertasks cannot be coherently described or realized.^[1] The paradox centers on a lamp that starts in the off position at time t=0. It is toggled on at t=0.5 minutes, off at t=0.75 minutes, on at t=0.875 minutes, and so forth, with each subsequent toggle occurring after half the previous interval, completing infinitely many switches by t=1 minute.^[14] The times of these toggles form a convergent series summing to 1 minute, mirroring the mathematical structure of supertasks where infinite steps accumulate in finite time.^[1] At t=1 minute, the lamp's state is indeterminate: it cannot be on, as every instance of it being on is followed by a turn-off, yet it cannot be off, as every turn-off is followed by a turn-on, with no final toggle to settle the matter.^[14] Thomson argued that this ambiguity reveals a fundamental problem with supertasks: they require a well-defined limit state after the infinite sequence, but the absence of a "last" task makes such specification impossible, rendering the entire process conceptually incoherent.^[14] He contended that supertasks thus fail to provide a viable model for actual infinities, as the lamp's undefined state at the completion time underscores the impracticality of infinite temporal divisions in real processes.^[10] This formulation revived philosophical interest in infinite processes, sparking ongoing debates about whether supertasks are logically possible constructs or merely descriptive fictions that break down under scrutiny.^[1] A variant considers symmetric toggling without presupposing an initial state, which amplifies the indeterminacy by avoiding any baseline for the sequence.^[14]

Benacerraf's Analysis

In his 1962 paper, Paul Benacerraf provided a formal analysis of supertasks by rephrasing James F. Thomson's lamp paradox in mathematical terms, modeling the infinite sequence of actions as a function defined over the ordinal \omega, the smallest infinite ordinal in set theory.^[15] This setup represents the supertask as a countable sequence of discrete steps approaching a limit time t_1, where each step corresponds to toggling the lamp's state at intervals halving in duration (e.g., 1 minute, then 1/2 minute, and so on), forming a series of order type \omega.^[15] Benacerraf emphasized that such sequences, unlike finite tasks, do not inherently specify a unique completion state at the limit, as the infinite history alone fails to determine the outcome without additional assumptions.^[15] A central issue in Benacerraf's critique is the underdetermination of the final state, illustrated by the possibility of multiple compatible descriptions of the same supertask yielding contradictory results. For instance, one can describe the lamp as "on" at t_1 by considering only the even-numbered steps (where it ends up on after each pair of toggles), or "off" at t_1 by focusing on the odd-numbered steps (ending off after each initial toggle).^[15] This ambiguity arises because the supertask's sequence, while well-defined over \omega, lacks a canonical extension to the limit point; no logical rule mandates that the state at t_1 must follow directly from the infinite prior actions, as Thomson assumed.^[15] Benacerraf noted that Thomson's argument for impossibility relies on an unproven analytic premise—that the lamp's state at t_1 is analytically determined by its states before t_1—which classical mathematics does not guarantee for infinite processes.^[15] Benacerraf's analysis highlights broader implications for logic and classical mathematics, challenging the coherence of supertasks by showing how they expose ambiguities in handling infinite sequences without leading to outright contradiction.^[15] In set theory, this connects to the distinction between sequences indexed by ordinals like \omega (discrete and countable) and continuous structures, underscoring that supertasks as proper classes or transfinite sequences do not resolve determinacy issues merely through formalization.^[15] Ultimately, Benacerraf argued that the paradoxes stem not from impossibility but from incomplete specifications of what constitutes "completion" in infinite tasks.^[15]

Prominent Paradoxes and Examples

Ross-Littlewood Vase Paradox

The Ross-Littlewood vase paradox originated as an informal puzzle posed by mathematician J. E. Littlewood in his 1953 collection A Mathematician's Miscellany, where it was presented as an example of counterintuitive infinity in mathematics.^[16] It was later formalized and analyzed in greater detail by Sheldon M. Ross in the 1988 edition of his textbook A First Course in Probability, which explored its implications for infinite processes.^[17] The paradox serves as a classic illustration of a supertask, involving infinitely many operations completed in a finite duration. The setup begins with an empty vase and an infinite supply of distinctively numbered balls, labeled with natural numbers starting from 1. The process unfolds over a finite time interval, such as the hour leading to noon, with each step n occurring at time t_n = 1 - 1/2^{n-1} minutes before noon (ensuring the steps converge to noon). At step n, ten new balls numbered 10(n-1) + 1 through 10n are added to the vase, increasing its contents by ten. Immediately after, the ball with the lowest number currently in the vase—specifically, ball n—is removed. This net addition of nine balls repeats infinitely many times as n approaches infinity, with the entire supertask completing exactly at noon.^[18] The paradox arises from conflicting intuitions about the vase's state at noon. On one hand, since nine balls are added net at each of the infinitely many steps, one might expect the vase to contain infinitely many balls at the limit, as the cardinality after n steps is exactly 9n, which diverges to infinity as n → ∞. On the other hand, a closer examination reveals that every individual ball k is added at some finite step (specifically, during step ⌈k/10⌉) and removed at a later finite step k, leaving no ball present at noon. This diagonal-style argument shows that the vase must be empty, as for any purported ball m in the final state, there exists a finite step m after which it is absent.^[18] Variants of the paradox highlight how the outcome depends on the removal rule, demonstrating the sensitivity of supertasks to procedural details. In the standard version above, removing the lowest-numbered ball leads to an empty vase. However, if at each step n the removal instead targets one ball from the most recently added group (e.g., always the first of the ten just introduced), then infinitely many balls remain at noon—specifically, the second through tenth balls from each batch, forming a countably infinite set. Another variant alters the removal rate: at step n, ten balls are added, but n balls (the lowest-numbered ones) are removed, yielding a net change of 10 - n. While early steps increase the count, later steps with n > 10 would imply negative net additions, rendering the process ill-defined beyond certain points; analyses of such "slower" removals often result in finite or infinite residues depending on labeling and timing, underscoring the non-uniqueness of limits in supertasks.^[19] Logically, the paradox presents no true contradiction, as the apparent conflict stems from conflating the limit of the sequence of states with the state of the limit. The number of balls grows without bound during the process (lim_{n→∞} |V_n| = ∞, where V_n is the vase after n steps), but the final configuration at noon is the set of balls that are never removed, which is empty in the standard case. This distinction aligns with set-theoretic principles, where infinite unions or intersections do not commute with cardinality measures, resolving the intuition via precise mathematical limits rather than physical intuition.^[18]

Benardete's Dichotomy Paradox

Benardete's dichotomy paradox, introduced by philosopher José A. Benardete, presents a supertask scenario involving a man attempting to walk along a road of finite length, say one mile from point A to point B, where an infinite sequence of divine interventions determines the presence of barriers at points approaching B.^[20] Specifically, for each natural number n, there is a point x_n = 1 - 1/2^n along the road (e.g., x_1 = 1/2, x_2 = 3/4, x_3 = 7/8, and so on, converging to 1). At each such point, a pair of gods is stationed: one god tasked with erecting an impenetrable barrier at x_n if the man ever reaches x_n, ensuring his death by collision, and the other god tasked with removing any such barrier if the man never reaches x_n.^[21] This setup creates a chain of conditional decisions, where the action at each point depends on whether the man arrives there, which in turn depends on the absence of prior barriers.^[22] The paradoxical outcome arises from evaluating the global state after all infinite interventions. Since the points x_n form a convergent sequence with no final point, the man would reach every x_n only if no barrier blocks him before it, but the conditionals ensure that if he reaches any x_n, a barrier appears there to stop him. Consequently, no barrier is ever erected, as the assumption that he reaches any particular x_n leads to a contradiction (he would be stopped there), so all gods remove their barriers, allowing the man to pass every point and reach B unscathed.^[20] However, this global survival contradicts an infinite disjunction derived from the local conditionals: the man must die, because either a barrier appears at x_1 (stopping him at 1/2), or if not, at x_2 (stopping him at 3/4), or if not, at x_3 (at 7/8), and so on for every n—implying he is stopped at some finite stage, yet no such stage exists.^[23] This tension highlights a survivor scenario where the man lives through the supertask, but the logic of the disjunction demands his demise.^[21] The paradox underscores themes of infinite regress in decision theory, where each conditional action presupposes the outcomes of infinitely many prior ones, and in the metaphysics of conditionals, questioning how counterfactual dependencies behave under supertasks.^[20] Benardete frames this as a modern variant of Zeno's dichotomy, but with intentional agents introducing causal loops that render the supertask incoherent.^[22] Proposed resolutions often argue that such supertasks are impossible, as the infinite chain of conditionals creates irresolvable causal dependencies, preventing any consistent execution.^[23]

Grim Reaper Paradox

The Grim Reaper paradox, originally formulated by philosopher José A. Benardete in 1964 as the "assassin paradox," presents a supertask scenario that challenges the coherence of infinite causal sequences converging in finite time. In this setup, an immortal man named Fred stands at noon (t=0), with infinitely many grim reapers poised to act at successively earlier times approaching t=0 from the positive side. The nth reaper is instructed to awaken exactly at time t_n = \frac{1}{n} (for positive integers n) and, upon finding Fred alive, to kill him instantly; if Fred is already dead, the reaper does nothing and remains inactive.^[24] Popularized in late 20th- and early 21st-century supertask literature, including works by Alexander Pruss and Robert Koons, the paradox highlights tensions in actual infinities and backward infinite causal chains.^[25]^[26] By t=0, every reaper has had its opportunity to act, yet Fred appears to survive because no single reaper kills him: for any particular reaper n, there are infinitely many subsequent reapers (with higher n) that would have acted earlier if Fred were still alive at their times, but the setup ensures an infinite regress where each misses its chance due to infinitesimal temporal gaps.^[27] However, Fred cannot possibly be alive at t=0, as the reaper with the latest activation time (smallest n) would find him alive and kill him, presupposing survival through all prior infinite activations.^[24] This leads to the core paradox of underdetermination: if Fred is dead at t=0, then some reaper must have killed him, but identifying which one requires an impossible infinite descent in the causal chain, implying he died infinitely often without a first cause; if alive, the entire infinite sequence fails to achieve its deterministic outcome.^[28] The scenario thus generates an acausal result—death without a specific killer—or violates temporal order by requiring causation without temporal precedence.^[26] Variants of the paradox extend these issues. In synchronic versions, infinitely many reapers are spatially arranged (e.g., at distances d_n = 2^{-n} from Fred) and activate simultaneously at t=0, with each killing only if no prior (closer) reaper has acted, yielding the same underdetermination: Fred dies without a determinate cause.^[28] Probabilistic variants introduce chance, such as each reaper killing with probability p<1 if alive, where the infinite product of survival probabilities approaches zero, yet the deterministic structure still forces survival at t=0, amplifying the apparent violation of expected outcomes in supertasks.^[27] These formulations, akin in conditional structure to Benardete's spatial dichotomy paradox of rising barriers, underscore how supertasks can produce outcomes defying intuitive causality.^[24]

Davies' Supertask Device

In 2001, physicist Paul Davies proposed a physical realization of a supertask device in his book How to Build a Time Machine, envisioning a "supermachine" that could execute an infinite sequence of computations within a finite timeframe by exploiting quantum mechanics and relativistic effects.^[29] This concept draws inspiration from Thomson's lamp paradox, adapting its infinite toggling into a tangible mechanism.^[29] The device's setup centers on a quantum system that repeatedly flips between states, with the operation rate accelerating dramatically as energies approach the Planck scale (approximately $10^{-35} meters and $10^{-43} seconds).^[29] As the process intensifies, gravitational time dilation—arising from the high energies or proximity to massive objects—progressively slows the perceived passage of time for the system relative to an external observer, effectively compressing the infinite flips into a bounded interval.^[29] Davies emphasized that this compression allows the supertask to conclude in finite laboratory time while the infinity remains "hidden" behind an event horizon or within a wormhole structure, consistent with general relativity's allowance for such spacetime geometries.^[29] Davies argued that the supermachine's feasibility hinges on these relativistic features, positing it as a bridge between abstract philosophical paradoxes and practical scientific engineering.^[29] However, critics have highlighted thermodynamic issues, noting that the accelerating energy requirements could violate the second law by implying perpetual motion-like efficiency in state transitions. Additionally, quantum measurement limits—such as the uncertainty principle—may prevent precise control over the state flips at Planck scales, rendering the infinite sequence practically unattainable. This proposal holds significance as the first explicit outline of a physically realizable supertask following Thomson's 1950s paradox, shifting discussions from pure logic to testable physics despite the challenges.^[29]

Contemporary Perspectives

Philosophical Debates

Philosophical debates surrounding supertasks since the 1980s have primarily focused on their metaphysical foundations, questioning whether such processes are coherent given concepts of infinity, temporality, and agency. Critics argue that supertasks presuppose an actual infinity— a completed infinite sequence—rather than a mere potential infinity, which unfolds indefinitely without completion. This distinction revives Aristotelian concerns, as actual infinities are seen as leading to absurdities, such as infinite magnitudes or paradoxes of division, whereas potential infinities align with finite, processual reality.^[5]^[30] A related contention involves the nature of time and change, where supertasks appear to demand a static B-series ordering of events (earlier-than and later-than relations fixed eternally) while conflicting with the dynamic A-series of tensed experience (past, present, future flow). This tension echoes McTaggart's paradox, suggesting that supertasks undermine the intuitive passage of time by compressing infinite changes into a finite interval, rendering the "aftermath" of the supertask indeterminate or illusory. John Earman has defended the logical possibility of supertasks within classical frameworks, asserting they pose no formal contradiction but strain human intuition about temporal continuity and completion.^[31]^[32] Debates also extend to free will and determinism, particularly in variants like Benardete's infinite decision scenarios, where an agent or series of agents must make infinitely many choices in finite time, potentially eroding agency by forcing predetermined outcomes or undecidable states. Such supertasks challenge compatibilist views, as the infinite regress of decisions implies a loss of autonomous control, aligning with deterministic chains that preclude genuine choice. Recent contributions, such as Jon Pérez Laraudogoitia's 1996 analysis of a reversible supertask involving infinite particle collisions, further intensify these issues by demonstrating how supertasks could ostensibly create entities (like particles) ex nihilo through symmetric time-reversal, questioning conservation principles in metaphysical terms without resolving underlying logical tensions.^[33]^[34]

Physical and Scientific Feasibility

In general relativity, supertasks appear feasible in certain pathological spacetimes known as Malament-Hogarth spacetimes, where time dilation near a rotating black hole's event horizon allows an observer to experience an infinite proper time for performing the task while a distant observer perceives completion in finite coordinate time.^[35] However, this setup demands infinite energy for the agent's acceleration to avoid falling into the horizon, and the resulting unbounded gravitational forces would physically destroy any realizable device, rendering the supertask unattainable.^[36] Proposals like Davies' supertask machine, which envisions a self-replicating device using accelerating classical processes, face similar barriers due to the infinite resources required.^[37] Quantum mechanics imposes fundamental limits on supertasks through principles that preclude the infinite precision and state manipulation needed for their execution. The Heisenberg uncertainty principle, \Delta x \Delta p \geq \frac{\hbar}{2}, restricts simultaneous knowledge of position and momentum, making it impossible to localize and accelerate components with the exactitude demanded by successively faster operations in a supertask.^[38] In quantum supertask variants involving repeated state preparations or measurements, the no-cloning theorem further blocks perfect replication of arbitrary unknown quantum states, as unitary evolution cannot produce identical copies without disturbing the original.^[39] These constraints collapse attempts at quantum supertasks into singularities or indeterminate outcomes long before infinity is reached. Thermodynamic considerations reveal additional barriers, as infinite operations in finite time would generate unbounded entropy production, violating the second law of thermodynamics, which mandates that entropy in an isolated system cannot decrease and increases at a finite rate.^[40] Each step, even idealized, dissipates energy as heat, leading to an infinite total entropy rise incompatible with closed-system constraints in any finite interval. No direct experimental realizations of supertasks exist, but the quantum Zeno effect serves as a partial analog, where frequent projective measurements inhibit quantum state evolution, effectively "freezing" the system as if intervening infinitely often. Observed in quantum optics experiments with trapped ions, this effect demonstrates slowed decay rates under repeated observations, mirroring the disruptive interventions of a supertask but without achieving infinite steps.^[41] In 21st-century cosmology, Frank Tipler's Omega Point theory posits supertasks at the universe's end, where a collapsing closed universe enables infinite computational operations approaching the final singularity, potentially resurrecting all information via reversible physics.^[42] However, this remains speculative, reliant on unverified assumptions about cosmic closure and quantum gravity, and conflicts with observational evidence for accelerating expansion.^[43]

Computational Implications

In computability theory, supertasks have been explored as mechanisms for hypercomputation, enabling models that surpass the limitations of Turing machines by completing infinitely many steps within finite time.^[44] These concepts emerged prominently in the late 20th century, building on earlier ideas like Turing's oracle machines from 1939, which hypothetically access external information to solve undecidable problems, but supertask variants emphasize temporal acceleration to achieve similar ends without oracles.^[45] Accelerating Turing machines, proposed by B. Jack Copeland in 1998, exemplify this approach: they follow the standard Turing machine architecture but execute steps at rates that converge to a supertask, such as performing computations in Zeno-like time intervals summing to a finite duration, potentially allowing resolution of uncomputable functions like determining whether a Turing machine halts on a given input.^[46] One influential model integrates supertasks with general relativity through Malament-Hogarth spacetimes, developed in the 1990s by David Malament and Mark Hogarth. In these spacetimes, an observer along a timelike curve of infinite proper length can perform an infinite sequence of computational steps, while a distant observer experiences only finite coordinate time until a signal from the completion point arrives.^[47] This setup, which does not require closed timelike curves, permits hypercomputation by simulating infinite Turing machine tapes or iterations in observer time, theoretically deciding problems like the halting problem through exhaustive simulation.^[48] Proponents argue that such supertasks could solve the halting problem, an undecidable question in Turing computability, by encoding the machine and input into an accelerating process that runs indefinitely along the infinite curve and outputs a result at the finite endpoint if halting occurs.^[44] However, critics contend that supertasks do not inherently expand computational power; for instance, accelerating machines without a well-defined limit stage fail to reliably output solutions to uncomputable functions, mirroring paradoxes like Thomson's lamp where the final state remains indeterminate.^[49] Physically, these models face unrealizability: Malament-Hogarth spacetimes violate global hyperbolicity, leading to instabilities, and no known solutions to Einstein's field equations support them without invoking speculative conditions that contradict the cosmic censorship hypothesis.^[47]^[48] More recent proposals have examined quantum supertasks within adiabatic computing frameworks, where slow evolution through a quantum ground state might approximate infinite-step processes for solving non-recursive problems like Hilbert's tenth.^[50] For example, Tien D. Kieu's 2004 algorithm uses the quantum adiabatic theorem to navigate energy landscapes corresponding to Diophantine equations, claiming hypercomputational capability.^[50] Yet, these are sharply criticized for conflating quantum parallelism with true hypercomputation, as they remain bounded by recursive definitions and fail to output noncomputable results reliably.^[51] Moreover, practical limitations arise from decoherence, where environmental interactions disrupt the adiabatic condition, preventing sustained infinite-like evolutions in finite time and confining quantum adiabatic models to polynomial-time approximations of Turing-computable functions.^[52]

References

[1]
Supertasks - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Apr 5, 2016 · A supertask is a task that consists in infinitely many component steps, but which in some sense is completed in a finite amount of time. ...Quantum mechanical supertasks · Supertasks in Relativistic...
[2]
Supertasks - University of Pittsburgh
Supertasks are tasks where an infinity of actions must be completed in a finite time. Examples include the Thomson lamp and a bouncing ball.
[3]
[PDF] Tasks, Super-Tasks, and the Modern Eleatics
Similarly, every putative proof of the impossibility of super-tasks takes the following form: 1. Assume that a super-task has been performed. 2. Consider what ...
[4]
[PDF] Infinite Pains: The Trouble with Supertasks - LSE
A supcrtask is a task which requires that an infinite number of acts or operations be performed in a finite span of time. Supcrtasks have tor-.<|control11|><|separator|>
[5]
Supertasks, physics and the Axiom of Infinity - ResearchGate
This is a preprint of Chapter 11 of Truth, Objects, Infinity: New Perspectives on Benacerraf Philosophy. Ed. by F. Pataut. Springer. 2016. Introduction. It ...
[6]
[PDF] Zeno's Paradoxes
In the fifth century B.C.E., Zeno of Elea offered arguments that led to conclusions contradicting what we all know from our physical experience—that runners ...
[7]
The Internet Classics Archive | Physics by Aristotle
### Summary of Aristotle's Physics Book VI Chapter 9 on Zeno's Paradoxes
[8]
[PDF] Why Zeno's Paradoxes of Motion are Actually About Immobility - HAL
Aug 4, 2019 · Nowadays, Zeno of Elea is best known for expressing four arguments against motion – usually titled 'The Dichotomy', 'Achilles', 'The Arrow' and ...Missing: scholarly | Show results with:scholarly
[9]
[PDF] Zeno of Elea: Where Space, Time, Physics, and Philosophy ...
This is a study of his arguments on motion, the purpose they have served in the history of science, and modern applications of Zeno of Elea's arguments on ...
[10]
Infinity - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Apr 29, 2021 · Thomson's lamp is an example of a supertask (Thomson coined this term): a process that involves infinitely many steps completed in a finite ...
[11]
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Dec 22, 2007 · Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) was one of the great thinkers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and is known as the last “universal genius”.Missing: supertask | Show results with:supertask
[12]
Zeno's Paradoxes | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
(More will be said about assumption (5) in Section 5c when we discuss supertasks.) ... Nonstandard Analysis. Although Zeno and Aristotle had the concept of ...
[13]
Tasks and Super-Tasks - jstor
This would be performing a sequence of tasks of type w + 1. Well, here it would seem reasonable to ask about the state of a parity-machinex at the end of the ...
[14]
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3326643
[15]
Littlewood's Miscellany - Google Books
... Littlewood collected after the publication of A Mathematician's Miscellany, allows us to see academic life in Cambridge, especially in Trinity College ...
[16]
A First Course in Probability - Sheldon Ross - Google Books
Dec 3, 2015 · A First Course in Probability, Ninth Edition, features clear and intuitive explanations of the mathematics of probability theory, outstanding ...
[17]
[PDF] A Small Contribution to Ross-Littlewood Paradox - HAL
Abstract In this paper Ross-Littlewood paradox is going to be analyzed. Two new experiments were proposed and it will be argued that number of balls at the ...Missing: original | Show results with:original
[18]
On Resolving the Littlewood-Ross Paradox
- **Origin**: The Littlewood-Ross paradox is introduced and discussed by John Byl in the paper published in the Missouri Journal of Mathematical Sciences, Winter 2000.
[19]
Infinity;: An essay in metaphysics, : Jose A. Benardete
Oct 5, 2023 · Infinity;: An essay in metaphysics,. by: Jose A. Benardete. Publication date: 1964-01-01. Publisher: Clarendon Press/Oxford University Press.Missing: Dichotomy Paradox
[20]
[PDF] Benardete's Paradox and the Logic of Counterfactuals - PhilArchive
In Benardete [1964], José Benardete presents the following puzzling scenario: ... Infinity: An Essay in Metaphysics. Clarendon, 1964. John Hawthorne. Before ...
[21]
[PDF] 1 The Form of the Benardete Dichotomy Nicholas Shackel Abstract
Abstract: Benardete presents a version of Zeno's dichotomy in which an infinite sequence of gods each intends to raise a barrier iff a traveller.Missing: road disjunction
[22]
https://philarchive.org/archive/SHATFO
[23]
[PDF] Grim Reaper Kalam Argument - rob koons
Benardete, J.A. (1964), Infinity: An Essay in Metaphysics (Oxford: Oxford University. Press). Boolos, George (1984), “To Be is to Be the Value of a Variable (or ...Missing: formulation | Show results with:formulation
[24]
From the Grim Reaper paradox to the Kalaam argument
Oct 2, 2009 · It seems that the Grim Reaper Paradox implicitly assumes the A-Theory of Time. The action (or inaction) of each previous Grim Reaper ...
[25]
A New Kalam Argument: Revenge of the Grim Reaper - Koons - 2014
Jun 6, 2012 · Alexander Pruss (Pruss 2009) has deployed the Grim Reaper paradox (Benardete 1964, Hawthorne 2000) as an argument for the discrete character of ...Missing: origin | Show results with:origin
[26]
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0068.2012.00858.x
[27]
[PDF] A Step-by-Step Argument for Causal Finitism - PhilArchive
Aug 8, 2021 · Consider, for instance, the Grim Reaper paradox wherein the victim, Fred—who only dies (we can suppose) if someone kills him, and the only ...Missing: origin | Show results with:origin
[28]
How to Build a Time Machine: Davies, Paul - Amazon.com
An engaging exploration of the theoretical possibility and mechanics of time travel, explained through accessible science and wit.
[29]
Exploring conceptions of infinity via super-tasks - ScienceDirect.com
“A super-task may be defined as an infinite sequence of actions or operations carried out in a finite interval of time” (Laraudogoitia, 2011). Thomson (1954) ...
[30]
[PDF] Zeno-machines and the metaphysics of time - Semantic Scholar
Aug 8, 2016 · An interpretation of Russell's argument can be made in the light of McTaggart's temporal series: Zeno is effectively using a temporal B-series ...
[31]
[PDF] Infinite Pains: The Trouble with Supertasks
... supertask." We will show in section 10 how bifurcated supertasks may be carried out in certain relativistic spacetimes. In such spacetimes, we may build an.
[32]
A Short Note on the Infinite Decision Puzzle - ResearchGate
PDF | This work draws on the Supertask literature1 in order to better understand the conceptual and physical possibility of an infinite decision puzzle.
[33]
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[34]
On the Possibility of Supertasks in General Relativity
Dec 9, 2009 · Malament-Hogarth spacetimes are the sort of models within general relativity that seem to allow for the possibility of supertasks.
[35]
[PDF] Supertasks in Pitowsky and Malament-Hogarth Spacetimes
Jan 25, 2005 · Our focus will be on the ways that the relativistic nature of spacetime can be exploited so as to finesse the accomplishment of a su- pertask.Missing: dilation | Show results with:dilation
[36]
[PDF] How to built an infinite lottery machine - University of Pittsburgh
Dec 18, 2016 · 9 Davies (2001) describes a ... Hansen (2016) has devised an ingenious reversed supertask as a candidate infinite lottery machine.
[37]
(PDF) The Collapse of Supertasks - ResearchGate
Aug 9, 2025 · I show that any attempt to carry out a supertask will produce a divergence of the curvature of spacetime, resulting in the formation of a black ...
[38]
[quant-ph/0504070] Preserving Quantum States : A Super-Zeno Effect
Apr 9, 2005 · Abstract: We construct an algorithm for suppressing the transitions of a quantum mechanical system, initially prepared in a subspace P of ...Missing: optics | Show results with:optics
[39]
[PDF] A Quantum Mechanical Supertask - University of Pittsburgh
If we are to preserve determinism and these conservation laws, we shall have to forgo that infinite limit. Quantum mechanical supertasks carry a similar moral.
[40]
Quantum Zeno effect | Phys. Rev. A - Physical Review Link Manager
The quantum Zero effect is the inhibition of transitions between quantum states by frequent measurements of the state.
[41]
(PDF) Physics and Supertasks - ResearchGate
Jul 26, 2025 · PDF | This chapter examines supertasks from the perspective of the physical laws, both classical and relativistic. | Find, read and cite all ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[42]
[PDF] arXiv:1309.0144v1 [physics.hist-ph] 31 Aug 2013
Aug 31, 2013 · Abstract A supertask consists in the performance of an infinite number of actions in a finite time. I show that any attempt to carry out a ...
[43]
Super-tasks, accelerating Turing machines and uncomputability
Accelerating Turing machines are devices with the same computational structure as Turing machines (TM), but able to perform super-tasks.
[44]
Accelerating Turing Machines | Minds and Machines
Copeland, B.J. (1998b), 'Even Turing Machines Can Compute Uncomputable Functions', in C. Calude, J. Casti, and M. Dinneen, eds., Unconventional Models of ...
[45]
Even Turing machines can compute uncomputable functions.
Even Turing machines can compute uncomputable functions. Jack Copeland. Abstract. Accelerated Turing machines are Turing machines that perform tasks commonly ...
[46]
[PDF] Malament-Hogarth Machines
Roughly, a supertask is “a task that consists in infinitely many component steps, but which in some sense is completed in a finite amount of time” (Manchak and.Missing: dilation | Show results with:dilation
[47]
Hypercomputation and the Physical Church‐Turing Thesis
We review the main approaches to computation beyond Turing definability ('hypercomputation'): supertask, non‐well‐founded, analog, quantum, and retrocausal ...Missing: criticisms unrealizability
[48]
[PDF] Supertasks do not increase computational power - Oron Shagrir
Copeland (1998b) also provides an elegant example of an ATM that arguably computes the halting function. The halting function, it will be recalled, accepts as ...
[49]
Hypercomputation with quantum adiabatic processes
We explore the possibility of using quantum mechanical principles for hypercomputation through the consideration of a quantum algorithm for computing the Turing ...
[50]
Quantum Hypercomputation—Hype or Computation?
Jan 1, 2022 · In Section 2 we describe the quantum adiabatic 'hypercomputer'. In Section 3 we flesh out the mistake on which the proposed hypercomputer rests.Missing: supertasks | Show results with:supertasks
[51]
Decoherence in adiabatic quantum computation | Phys. Rev. A
Jun 17, 2015 · We reconsider the role of decoherence in adiabatic quantum computation and quantum annealing using the adiabatic quantum master-equation formalism.Missing: supertasks | Show results with:supertasks