A US Perspective on Innovation Policy: What it Will Take to Regain America's Technological Edge

From its very conception, IIASA's Management and Technology Area has been interested in industrial policy issues. This interest increased after the Innovation Management Task started its work. Several collaborative papers have been written which address the problem of industrial policy in different countries or some industrial branches. In spite of the fact that this paper by was written two years ago, it is an excellent introduction into the US scene where industrial policy discussions are an important issue. The interesting issue which is raised concerns the longer-term horizon in government and company activities and their implementation. This is particularly relevant to industrial restructuring which challenges most of the industrially developed and developing countries in the years to come. Therefore this paper is very relevant in solving many recent policy issues

Natural selection maximizes Fisher information

In biology, information flows from the environment to the genome by the process of natural selection. But it has not been clear precisely what sort of information metric properly describes natural selection. Here, I show that Fisher information arises as the intrinsic metric of natural selection and evolutionary dynamics. Maximizing the amount of Fisher information about the environment captured by the population leads to Fisher's fundamental theorem of natural selection, the most profound statement about how natural selection influences evolutionary dynamics. I also show a relation between Fisher information and Shannon information (entropy) that may help to unify the correspondence between information and dynamics. Finally, I discuss possible connections between the fundamental role of Fisher information in statistics, biology, and other fields of science.Comment: Published version freely available at DOI listed her

Efficient data processing and quantum phenomena: Single-particle systems

We study the relation between the acquisition and analysis of data and quantum theory using a probabilistic and deterministic model for photon polarizers. We introduce criteria for efficient processing of data and then use these criteria to demonstrate that efficient processing of the data contained in single events is equivalent to the observation that Malus' law holds. A strictly deterministic process that also yields Malus' law is analyzed in detail. We present a performance analysis of the probabilistic and deterministic model of the photon polarizer. The latter is an adaptive dynamical system that has primitive learning capabilities. This additional feature has recently been shown to be sufficient to perform event-by-event simulations of interference phenomena, without using concepts of wave mechanics. We illustrate this by presenting results for a system of two chained Mach-Zehnder interferometers, suggesting that systems that perform efficient data processing and have learning capability are able to exhibit behavior that is usually attributed to quantum systems only.Comment: http://www.compphys.net/dl

Virial statistical description of non-extensive hierarchical systems

In a first part the scope of classical thermodynamics and statistical mechanics is discussed in the broader context of formal dynamical systems, including computer programmes. In this context classical thermodynamics appears as a particular theory suited to a subset of all dynamical systems. A statistical mechanics similar to the one derived with the microcanonical ensemble emerges from dynamical systems provided it contains, 1) a finite non-integrable part of its phase space which is, 2) ergodic at a satisfactory degree after a finite time. The integrable part of phase space provides the constraints that shape the particular system macroscopical properties, and the chaotic part provides well behaved statistical properties over a relevant finite time. More generic semi-ergodic systems lead to intermittent behaviour, thus may be unsuited for a statistical description of steady states. Following these lines of thought, in a second part non-extensive hierarchical systems with statistical scale-invariance and power law interactions are explored. Only the virial constraint, consistent with their microdynamics, is included. No assumptions of classical thermodynamics are used, in particular extensivity and local homogeneity. In the limit of a large hierarchical range new constraints emerge in some conditions that depend on the interaction law range. In particular for the gravitational case, a velocity-site scaling relation is derived which is consistant with the ones empirically observed in the fractal interstellar medium.Comment: Based on the talk given at the Meeting on `Statistical Mechanics of Non-Extensive Systems', 24-25 Oct 05, Paris. To be published in a Special Issue of Les Comptes rendus de l'Academie des Sciences. 21 pages; 4 figure

The Effect Of Microscopic Correlations On The Information Geometric Complexity Of Gaussian Statistical Models

We present an analytical computation of the asymptotic temporal behavior of the information geometric complexity (IGC) of finite-dimensional Gaussian statistical manifolds in the presence of microcorrelations (correlations between microvariables). We observe a power law decay of the IGC at a rate determined by the correlation coefficient. It is found that microcorrelations lead to the emergence of an asymptotic information geometric compression of the statistical macrostates explored by the system at a faster rate than that observed in absence of microcorrelations. This finding uncovers an important connection between (micro)-correlations and (macro)-complexity in Gaussian statistical dynamical systems.Comment: 12 pages; article in press, Physica A (2010)

Varying c and Particle Horizons

We explore what restrictions may impose the second law of thermodynamics on varying speed of light theories. We find that the attractor scenario solving the flatness problem is consistent with the generalized second law at late time.Comment: Latex file, 8 pages, to be published in Physics Letters

A first--order irreversible thermodynamic approach to a simple energy converter

Several authors have shown that dissipative thermal cycle models based on Finite-Time Thermodynamics exhibit loop-shaped curves of power output versus efficiency, such as it occurs with actual dissipative thermal engines. Within the context of First-Order Irreversible Thermodynamics (FOIT), in this work we show that for an energy converter consisting of two coupled fluxes it is also possible to find loop-shaped curves of both power output and the so-called ecological function against efficiency. In a previous work Stucki [J.W. Stucki, Eur. J. Biochem. vol. 109, 269 (1980)] used a FOIT-approach to describe the modes of thermodynamic performance of oxidative phosphorylation involved in ATP-synthesis within mithochondrias. In that work the author did not use the mentioned loop-shaped curves and he proposed that oxidative phosphorylation operates in a steady state simultaneously at minimum entropy production and maximum efficiency, by means of a conductance matching condition between extreme states of zero and infinite conductances respectively. In the present work we show that all Stucki's results about the oxidative phosphorylation energetics can be obtained without the so-called conductance matching condition. On the other hand, we also show that the minimum entropy production state implies both null power output and efficiency and therefore this state is not fulfilled by the oxidative phosphorylation performance. Our results suggest that actual efficiency values of oxidative phosphorylation performance are better described by a mode of operation consisting in the simultaneous maximization of the so-called ecological function and the efficiency.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Computer simulation of Wheeler's delayed choice experiment with photons

We present a computer simulation model of Wheeler's delayed choice experiment that is a one-to-one copy of an experiment reported recently (V. Jacques {\sl et al.}, Science 315, 966 (2007)). The model is solely based on experimental facts, satisfies Einstein's criterion of local causality and does not rely on any concept of quantum theory. Nevertheless, the simulation model reproduces the averages as obtained from the quantum theoretical description of Wheeler's delayed choice experiment. Our results prove that it is possible to give a particle-only description of Wheeler's delayed choice experiment which reproduces the averages calculated from quantum theory and which does not defy common sense.Comment: Europhysics Letters (in press

Field Theory Entropy, the HH-theorem and the Renormalization Group

We consider entropy and relative entropy in Field theory and establish relevant monotonicity properties with respect to the couplings. The relative entropy in a field theory with a hierarchy of renormalization group fixed points ranks the fixed points, the lowest relative entropy being assigned to the highest multicritical point. We argue that as a consequence of a generalized $H$ theorem Wilsonian RG flows induce an increase in entropy and propose the relative entropy as the natural quantity which increases from one fixed point to another in more than two dimensions.Comment: 25 pages, plain TeX (macros included), 6 ps figures. Addition in title. Entropy of cutoff Gaussian model modified in section 4 to avoid a divergence. Therefore, last figure modified. Other minor changes to improve readability. Version to appear in Phys. Rev.