16,864 research outputs found
Echo State Networks with Self-Normalizing Activations on the Hyper-Sphere
Among the various architectures of Recurrent Neural Networks, Echo State
Networks (ESNs) emerged due to their simplified and inexpensive training
procedure. These networks are known to be sensitive to the setting of
hyper-parameters, which critically affect their behaviour. Results show that
their performance is usually maximized in a narrow region of hyper-parameter
space called edge of chaos. Finding such a region requires searching in
hyper-parameter space in a sensible way: hyper-parameter configurations
marginally outside such a region might yield networks exhibiting fully
developed chaos, hence producing unreliable computations. The performance gain
due to optimizing hyper-parameters can be studied by considering the
memory--nonlinearity trade-off, i.e., the fact that increasing the nonlinear
behavior of the network degrades its ability to remember past inputs, and
vice-versa. In this paper, we propose a model of ESNs that eliminates critical
dependence on hyper-parameters, resulting in networks that provably cannot
enter a chaotic regime and, at the same time, denotes nonlinear behaviour in
phase space characterised by a large memory of past inputs, comparable to the
one of linear networks. Our contribution is supported by experiments
corroborating our theoretical findings, showing that the proposed model
displays dynamics that are rich-enough to approximate many common nonlinear
systems used for benchmarking
Pursuit-evasion predator-prey waves in two spatial dimensions
We consider a spatially distributed population dynamics model with excitable
predator-prey dynamics, where species propagate in space due to their taxis
with respect to each other's gradient in addition to, or instead of, their
diffusive spread. Earlier, we have described new phenomena in this model in one
spatial dimension, not found in analogous systems without taxis: reflecting and
self-splitting waves. Here we identify new phenomena in two spatial dimensions:
unusual patterns of meander of spirals, partial reflection of waves, swelling
wavetips, attachment of free wave ends to wave backs, and as a result, a novel
mechanism of self-supporting complicated spatio-temporal activity, unknown in
reaction-diffusion population models.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, submitted to Chao
Mechanisms of urban change: Regeneration companies or development corporations?
This article is an early assessment of the role and performance of URCs, benchmarked against the UDC model. It identified weaknesses and vulnerability of URCs in relation to control over land
Dynamic Adaptive Computation: Tuning network states to task requirements
Neural circuits are able to perform computations under very diverse
conditions and requirements. The required computations impose clear constraints
on their fine-tuning: a rapid and maximally informative response to stimuli in
general requires decorrelated baseline neural activity. Such network dynamics
is known as asynchronous-irregular. In contrast, spatio-temporal integration of
information requires maintenance and transfer of stimulus information over
extended time periods. This can be realized at criticality, a phase transition
where correlations, sensitivity and integration time diverge. Being able to
flexibly switch, or even combine the above properties in a task-dependent
manner would present a clear functional advantage. We propose that cortex
operates in a "reverberating regime" because it is particularly favorable for
ready adaptation of computational properties to context and task. This
reverberating regime enables cortical networks to interpolate between the
asynchronous-irregular and the critical state by small changes in effective
synaptic strength or excitation-inhibition ratio. These changes directly adapt
computational properties, including sensitivity, amplification, integration
time and correlation length within the local network. We review recent
converging evidence that cortex in vivo operates in the reverberating regime,
and that various cortical areas have adapted their integration times to
processing requirements. In addition, we propose that neuromodulation enables a
fine-tuning of the network, so that local circuits can either decorrelate or
integrate, and quench or maintain their input depending on task. We argue that
this task-dependent tuning, which we call "dynamic adaptive computation",
presents a central organization principle of cortical networks and discuss
first experimental evidence.Comment: 6 pages + references, 2 figure
Quantum chaos of a mixed, open system of kicked cold atoms
The quantum and classical dynamics of particles kicked by a gaussian
attractive potential are studied. Classically, it is an open mixed system (the
motion in some parts of the phase space is chaotic, and in some parts it is
regular). The fidelity (Lochshmidt echo) is found to exhibit oscillations that
can be determined from classical considerations but are sensitive to phase
space structures that are smaller than Planck's constant. Families of
quasi-energies are determined from classical phase space structures.
Substantial differences between the classical and quantum dynamics are found
for time dependent scattering. It is argued that the system can be
experimentally realized by cold atoms kicked by a gaussian light beam.Comment: 19 pages, 21 figures, (accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. E
Sparsity in Reservoir Computing Neural Networks
Reservoir Computing (RC) is a well-known strategy for designing Recurrent
Neural Networks featured by striking efficiency of training. The crucial aspect
of RC is to properly instantiate the hidden recurrent layer that serves as
dynamical memory to the system. In this respect, the common recipe is to create
a pool of randomly and sparsely connected recurrent neurons. While the aspect
of sparsity in the design of RC systems has been debated in the literature, it
is nowadays understood mainly as a way to enhance the efficiency of
computation, exploiting sparse matrix operations. In this paper, we empirically
investigate the role of sparsity in RC network design under the perspective of
the richness of the developed temporal representations. We analyze both
sparsity in the recurrent connections, and in the connections from the input to
the reservoir. Our results point out that sparsity, in particular in
input-reservoir connections, has a major role in developing internal temporal
representations that have a longer short-term memory of past inputs and a
higher dimension.Comment: This paper is currently under revie
Echo: Flux, Spring 2017
Student-produced magazine formerly published as Chicago Arts and Communication, changed to Echo magazine in 1997. Cover articles: Poetryscopes: no rhymes, just reasons; Surviving the stigma: life post-prison; Psych out: a new role for LSD?; Will I forget?: assessing my risk of Alzheimer\u27s. Local insights: paths of birds; Chicago words; weather nerds. 120 pages.https://digitalcommons.colum.edu/echo/1037/thumbnail.jp
Bubble, toil, and trouble
When people call the dot-com boom a bubble, they imply that investors based their decisions on something other than a good estimate of the future value of the assets theywere buying. But some economists say that is not likely because episodes like the dot-com bust show future value is not always easy to predict, especially when the asset is a new technology. This Commentary shows how both explanations can describe a famous historical bubble that occurred after the introduction of a technology that was new at the beginning of the eighteenth century—a novel macroeconomic theory.Speculation ; Financial crises ; Law, John
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