Finite-State Dimension and Real Arithmetic

We use entropy rates and Schur concavity to prove that, for every integer k >= 2, every nonzero rational number q, and every real number alpha, the base-k expansions of alpha, q+alpha, and q*alpha all have the same finite-state dimension and the same finite-state strong dimension. This extends, and gives a new proof of, Wall's 1949 theorem stating that the sum or product of a nonzero rational number and a Borel normal number is always Borel normal.Comment: 15 page

Dimension, Pseudorandomness and Extraction of Pseudorandomness

In this paper we propose a quantification of distributions on a set of strings, in terms of how close to pseudorandom a distribution is. The quantification is an adaptation of the theory of dimension of sets of infinite sequences introduced by Lutz. Adapting Hitchcock\u27s work, we also show that the logarithmic loss incurred by a predictor on a distribution is quantitatively equivalent to the notion of dimension we define. Roughly, this captures the equivalence between pseudorandomness defined via indistinguishability and via unpredictability. Later we show some natural properties of our notion of dimension. We also do a comparative study among our proposed notion of dimension and two well known notions of computational analogue of entropy, namely HILL-type pseudo min-entropy and next-bit pseudo Shannon entropy. Further, we apply our quantification to the following problem. If we know that the dimension of a distribution on the set of n-length strings is s in (0,1], can we extract out O(sn) pseudorandom bits out of the distribution? We show that to construct such extractor, one need at least Omega(log n) bits of pure randomness. However, it is still open to do the same using O(log n) random bits. We show that deterministic extraction is possible in a special case - analogous to the bit-fixing sources introduced by Chor et al., which we term nonpseudorandom bit-fixing source. We adapt the techniques of Gabizon, Raz and Shaltiel to construct a deterministic pseudorandom extractor for this source. By the end, we make a little progress towards P vs. BPP problem by showing that existence of optimal stretching function that stretches O(log n) input bits to produce n output bits such that output distribution has dimension s in (0,1], implies P=BPP

Lorenz, G\"{o}del and Penrose: New perspectives on determinism and causality in fundamental physics

Despite being known for his pioneering work on chaotic unpredictability, the key discovery at the core of meteorologist Ed Lorenz's work is the link between space-time calculus and state-space fractal geometry. Indeed, properties of Lorenz's fractal invariant set relate space-time calculus to deep areas of mathematics such as G\"{o}del's Incompleteness Theorem. These properties, combined with some recent developments in theoretical and observational cosmology, motivate what is referred to as the `cosmological invariant set postulate': that the universe $U$ can be considered a deterministic dynamical system evolving on a causal measure-zero fractal invariant set $I_U$ in its state space. Symbolic representations of $I_U$ are constructed explicitly based on permutation representations of quaternions. The resulting `invariant set theory' provides some new perspectives on determinism and causality in fundamental physics. For example, whilst the cosmological invariant set appears to have a rich enough structure to allow a description of quantum probability, its measure-zero character ensures it is sparse enough to prevent invariant set theory being constrained by the Bell inequality (consistent with a partial violation of the so-called measurement independence postulate). The primacy of geometry as embodied in the proposed theory extends the principles underpinning general relativity. As a result, the physical basis for contemporary programmes which apply standard field quantisation to some putative gravitational lagrangian is questioned. Consistent with Penrose's suggestion of a deterministic but non-computable theory of fundamental physics, a `gravitational theory of the quantum' is proposed based on the geometry of $I_U$, with potential observational consequences for the dark universe.Comment: This manuscript has been accepted for publication in Contemporary Physics and is based on the author's 9th Dennis Sciama Lecture, given in Oxford and Triest

Nonlinear dynamic characteristics of load time series in rock cutting

The characteristics of the cutting load time series were investigated using chaos and fractal theories to study the information and dynamic characteristics of rock cutting. The following observations were made after analyzing the power spectrum, denoising phase reconstruction, correlation dimension and maximum Lyapunov exponent of the time series. A continuous broadband without a significant dominant frequency was found in the power spectrum. The restructured phase space presented a distinct strange attractor after wavelet denoising. The correlation dimension was saturated at an embedding dimension of 7. Lastly, and the maximum Lyapunov exponent exceeded 0 via the small data method. These findings reflected the chaotic dynamic characteristics of the cutting load time series. The box dimensions of the cutting load were further investigated under different conditions, and the difference in cutting depth, cutting velocity and assisted waterjet types were found to be ineffective in changing the fractal characteristic. As cutting depth become small, rock fragment size also decreased, whereas fractal dimension increased. Moreover, a certain range of cutting velocity increased fragment size but decreased fractal dimension. Therefore, fractal dimension could be regarded as an evaluation index to assess the extent of rock fragmentation. The rock-cutting mechanism remained unchanged under different assisted waterjet types. The waterjet front cutter impacts and damages rock, however, the waterjet behind of cutter is mainly used to clean fragments and to lubricate the cutter

Order in Spontaneous Behavior

Brains are usually described as input/output systems: they transform sensory input into motor output. However, the motor output of brains (behavior) is notoriously variable, even under identical sensory conditions. The question of whether this behavioral variability merely reflects residual deviations due to extrinsic random noise in such otherwise deterministic systems or an intrinsic, adaptive indeterminacy trait is central for the basic understanding of brain function. Instead of random noise, we find a fractal order (resembling Lévy flights) in the temporal structure of spontaneous flight maneuvers in tethered Drosophila fruit flies. Lévy-like probabilistic behavior patterns are evolutionarily conserved, suggesting a general neural mechanism underlying spontaneous behavior. Drosophila can produce these patterns endogenously, without any external cues. The fly's behavior is controlled by brain circuits which operate as a nonlinear system with unstable dynamics far from equilibrium. These findings suggest that both general models of brain function and autonomous agents ought to include biologically relevant nonlinear, endogenous behavior-initiating mechanisms if they strive to realistically simulate biological brains or out-compete other agents