2,487 research outputs found
A Modular Formalization of Reversibility for Concurrent Models and Languages
Causal-consistent reversibility is the reference notion of reversibility for
concurrency. We introduce a modular framework for defining causal-consistent
reversible extensions of concurrent models and languages. We show how our
framework can be used to define reversible extensions of formalisms as
different as CCS and concurrent X-machines. The generality of the approach
allows for the reuse of theories and techniques in different settings.Comment: In Proceedings ICE 2016, arXiv:1608.0313
Counterfactuals, Irreversible Laws and The Direction of Time
The principle of Information Conservation or Determinism is a governing assumption of physical theory. Determinism has counterfactual consequences. It entails that if the present were different, then the future would be different. But determinism is temporally symmetric: it entails that if the present were different, the past would also have to be different. This runs contrary to our commonsense intuition that what has happened in the future depends on the past in a way the past does not depend on the future. To understand how this can be so we observe that while the truth of some counterfactuals is guaranteed by the laws of logic or the laws of nature, some are not. It is among the latter contingent, counterfactuals that we find temporal asymmetry. It is this asymmetry that gives causation a temporal direction. The temporal asymmetry of these counterfactuals is explained by the fact that the dynamical laws of nature are logically irreversible functions from partial states of the world onto other partial states. (Logical reversibility is not to be confused, though it too often is, with time-reversal invariance). Though these irreversible laws are locally indeterministic, they can sum to give a globally deterministic description of the world. This combination of global determinism and local indeterminism gives rise to contingent counterfactual dependence and gives that dependence a direction. That direction is independent of the direction of entropy. The direction of contingent counterfactual dependence is time's arrow
Recurring patterns in stationary intervals of abdominal uterine electromyograms during gestation
Abdominal uterine electromyograms (uEMG) studies have focused on uterine contractions to describe the evolution of uterine activity and preterm birth (PTB) prediction. Stationary, non-contracting uEMG has not been studied. The aim of the study was to investigate the recurring patterns in stationary uEMG, their relationship with gestation age and PTB, and PTB predictivity. A public database of 300 (38 PTB) three-channel (S1-S3) uEMG recordings of 30 min, collected between 22 and 35 weeks' gestation, was used. Motion and labour contraction-free intervals in uEMG were identified as 5-min weak-sense stationarity intervals in 268 (34 PTB) recordings. Sample entropy (SampEn), percentage recurrence (PR), percentage determinism (PD), entropy (ER), and maximum length (L MAX) of recurrence were calculated and analysed according to the time to delivery and PTB. Random time series were generated by random shuffle (RS) of actual data. Recurrence was present in actual data (p<0.001) but not RS. In S3, PR (p<0.005), PD (p<0.01), ER (p<0.005), and L MAX (p<0.05) were higher, and SampEn lower (p<0.005) in PTB. Recurrence indices increased (all p<0.001) and SampEn decreased (p<0.01) with decreasing time to delivery, suggesting increasingly regular and recurring patterns with gestation progression. All indices predicted PTB with AUCâ„0.62 (p<0.05). Recurring patterns in stationary non-contracting uEMG were associated with time to delivery but were relatively poor predictors of PTB
Causality - Complexity - Consistency: Can Space-Time Be Based on Logic and Computation?
The difficulty of explaining non-local correlations in a fixed causal
structure sheds new light on the old debate on whether space and time are to be
seen as fundamental. Refraining from assuming space-time as given a priori has
a number of consequences. First, the usual definitions of randomness depend on
a causal structure and turn meaningless. So motivated, we propose an intrinsic,
physically motivated measure for the randomness of a string of bits: its length
minus its normalized work value, a quantity we closely relate to its Kolmogorov
complexity (the length of the shortest program making a universal Turing
machine output this string). We test this alternative concept of randomness for
the example of non-local correlations, and we end up with a reasoning that
leads to similar conclusions as in, but is conceptually more direct than, the
probabilistic view since only the outcomes of measurements that can actually
all be carried out together are put into relation to each other. In the same
context-free spirit, we connect the logical reversibility of an evolution to
the second law of thermodynamics and the arrow of time. Refining this, we end
up with a speculation on the emergence of a space-time structure on bit strings
in terms of data-compressibility relations. Finally, we show that logical
consistency, by which we replace the abandoned causality, it strictly weaker a
constraint than the latter in the multi-party case.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figures, small correction
Fast, parallel and secure cryptography algorithm using Lorenz's attractor
A novel cryptography method based on the Lorenz's attractor chaotic system is
presented. The proposed algorithm is secure and fast, making it practical for
general use. We introduce the chaotic operation mode, which provides an
interaction among the password, message and a chaotic system. It ensures that
the algorithm yields a secure codification, even if the nature of the chaotic
system is known. The algorithm has been implemented in two versions: one
sequential and slow and the other, parallel and fast. Our algorithm assures the
integrity of the ciphertext (we know if it has been altered, which is not
assured by traditional algorithms) and consequently its authenticity. Numerical
experiments are presented, discussed and show the behavior of the method in
terms of security and performance. The fast version of the algorithm has a
performance comparable to AES, a popular cryptography program used commercially
nowadays, but it is more secure, which makes it immediately suitable for
general purpose cryptography applications. An internet page has been set up,
which enables the readers to test the algorithm and also to try to break into
the cipher in
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