A Framework for Complexity Classes in Membrane Computing

The purpose of the present work is to give a general idea about the existing results and open problems concerning the study of complexity classes within the membrane computing framework. To this aim, membrane systems (seen as computing devices) are briefly introduced, providing the basic definition and summarizing the key ideas, trying to cover the various approaches that are under investigation in this area – of course, special attention is paid to the study of complexity classes. The paper concludes with some final remarks that hint the reasons why this field (as well as other unconventional models of computation) is attracting the attention of a growing community.