Fundamental Limits of Cyber-Physical Systems Modeling

Abstract

This article examines the role of modeling in the engineering of cyber-physical systems. It argues that the role that models play in engineering is different from the role they play in science, and that this difference should direct us to use a different class of models, where simplicity and clarity of semantics dominate over accuracy and detail. I argue that determinism in models used for engineering is a valuable property and should be preserved whenever possible, regardless of whether the system being modeled is deterministic. I then identify three classes of fundamental limits on modeling, specifically chaotic behavior, the inability of computers to numerically handle a continuum, and the incompleteness of determinism. The last of these has profound consequences.