21,263 research outputs found
Universal neural field computation
Turing machines and G\"odel numbers are important pillars of the theory of
computation. Thus, any computational architecture needs to show how it could
relate to Turing machines and how stable implementations of Turing computation
are possible. In this chapter, we implement universal Turing computation in a
neural field environment. To this end, we employ the canonical symbologram
representation of a Turing machine obtained from a G\"odel encoding of its
symbolic repertoire and generalized shifts. The resulting nonlinear dynamical
automaton (NDA) is a piecewise affine-linear map acting on the unit square that
is partitioned into rectangular domains. Instead of looking at point dynamics
in phase space, we then consider functional dynamics of probability
distributions functions (p.d.f.s) over phase space. This is generally described
by a Frobenius-Perron integral transformation that can be regarded as a neural
field equation over the unit square as feature space of a dynamic field theory
(DFT). Solving the Frobenius-Perron equation yields that uniform p.d.f.s with
rectangular support are mapped onto uniform p.d.f.s with rectangular support,
again. We call the resulting representation \emph{dynamic field automaton}.Comment: 21 pages; 6 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with
arXiv:1204.546
Time Quasilattices in Dissipative Dynamical Systems
We establish the existence of `time quasilattices' as stable trajectories in
dissipative dynamical systems. These tilings of the time axis, with two unit
cells of different durations, can be generated as cuts through a periodic
lattice spanned by two orthogonal directions of time. We show that there are
precisely two admissible time quasilattices, which we term the infinite Pell
and Clapeyron words, reached by a generalization of the period-doubling
cascade. Finite Pell and Clapeyron words of increasing length provide
systematic periodic approximations to time quasilattices which can be verified
experimentally. The results apply to all systems featuring the universal
sequence of periodic windows. We provide examples of discrete-time maps, and
periodically-driven continuous-time dynamical systems. We identify quantum
many-body systems in which time quasilattices develop rigidity via the
interaction of many degrees of freedom, thus constituting dissipative discrete
`time quasicrystals'.Comment: 38 pages, 14 figures. This version incorporates "Pell and Clapeyron
Words as Stable Trajectories in Dynamical Systems", arXiv:1707.09333.
Submission to SciPos
Modelling the Developing Mind: From Structure to Change
This paper presents a theory of cognitive change. The theory assumes that the fundamental causes of cognitive change reside in the architecture of mind. Thus, the architecture of mind as specified by the theory is described first. It is assumed that the mind is a three-level universe involving (1) a processing system that constrains processing potentials, (2) a set of specialized capacity systems that guide understanding of different reality and knowledge domains, and (3) a hypecognitive system that monitors and controls the functioning of all other systems. The paper then specifies the types of change that may occur in cognitive development (changes within the levels of mind, changes in the relations between structures across levels, changes in the efficiency of a structure) and a series of general (e.g., metarepresentation) and more specific mechanisms (e.g., bridging, interweaving, and fusion) that bring the changes about. It is argued that different types of change require different mechanisms. Finally, a general model of the nature of cognitive development is offered. The relations between the theory proposed in the paper and other theories and research in cognitive development and cognitive neuroscience is discussed throughout the paper
Statistical Mechanics and Information-Theoretic Perspectives on Complexity in the Earth System
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
How crystals that sense and respond to their environments could evolve
An enduring mystery in biology is how a physical entity simple enough to have arisen spontaneously could have evolved into the complex life seen on Earth today. Cairns-Smith has proposed that life might have originated in clays which stored genomes consisting of an arrangement of crystal monomers that was replicated during growth. While a clay genome is simple enough to have conceivably arisen spontaneously, it is not obvious how it might have produced more complex forms as a result of evolution. Here, we examine this possibility in the tile assembly model, a generalized model of crystal growth that has been used to study the self-assembly of DNA tiles. We describe hypothetical crystals for which evolution of complex crystal sequences is driven by the scarceness of resources required for growth. We show how, under certain circumstances, crystal growth that performs computation can predict which resources are abundant. In such cases, crystals executing programs that make these predictions most accurately will grow fastest. Since crystals can perform universal computation, the complexity of computation that can be used to optimize growth is unbounded. To the extent that lessons derived from the tile assembly model might be applicable to mineral crystals, our results suggest that resource scarcity could conceivably have provided the evolutionary pressures necessary to produce complex clay genomes that sense and respond to changes in their environment
Coupling of quantum angular momenta: an insight into analogic/discrete and local/global models of computation
In the past few years there has been a tumultuous activity aimed at
introducing novel conceptual schemes for quantum computing. The approach
proposed in (Marzuoli A and Rasetti M 2002, 2005a) relies on the (re)coupling
theory of SU(2) angular momenta and can be viewed as a generalization to
arbitrary values of the spin variables of the usual quantum-circuit model based
on `qubits' and Boolean gates. Computational states belong to
finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces labelled by both discrete and continuous
parameters, and unitary gates may depend on quantum numbers ranging over finite
sets of values as well as continuous (angular) variables. Such a framework is
an ideal playground to discuss discrete (digital) and analogic computational
processes, together with their relationships occuring when a consistent
semiclassical limit takes place on discrete quantum gates. When working with
purely discrete unitary gates, the simulator is naturally modelled as families
of quantum finite states--machines which in turn represent discrete versions of
topological quantum computation models. We argue that our model embodies a sort
of unifying paradigm for computing inspired by Nature and, even more
ambitiously, a universal setting in which suitably encoded quantum symbolic
manipulations of combinatorial, topological and algebraic problems might find
their `natural' computational reference model.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figure; Workshop `Natural processes and models of
computation' Bologna (Italy) June 16-18 2005; to appear in Natural Computin
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