Lethology a theory of learning and knowing vis à vis undeterminables, undecidables, unknowables

First of all I want to thank the Authorities of the Comprensorio di Primiero, the sponsors and organizers of this Symposium on Cognition as Education, who gave us a unique opportunity not only to learn about the many perspectivas of learning and knowing, but also to meet old friends and colleagues from different parts of the globe, and to make new ones here at this magnificent place

Integrability and exact solution for coupled BCS systems associated with the su(4)su(4) Lie algebra

We introduce an integrable model for two coupled BCS systems through a solution of the Yang-Baxter equation associated with the Lie algebra $su(4)$. By employing the algebraic Bethe ansatz, we determine the exact solution for the energy spectrum. An asymptotic analysis is conducted to determine the leading terms in the ground state energy, the gap and some one point correlation functions at zero temperature.Comment: 15 page

Problems and Opportunities of First-Person Research

The aim of the article is twofold. First, it aims to overview current empirical methods in the area of first-person research. Such a review cannot overlook epistemological and ontological issues, but must at the same time keep in mind methodological and almost technical nature of the problem. Empirical experience research is positioned within the frame of cognitive science and the overview of approaches and techniques of empirical phenomenology is presented, together with epistemological considerations. The second aim of the paper is concerned with the future of research in the discussed area. It suggests that in-depth, existentially liable introspection and self-inquiry should be considered as serious scientific research tools

Finite-time singularity in the dynamics of the world population, economic and financial indices

Contrary to common belief, both the Earth's human population and its economic output have grown faster than exponential, i.e., in a super-Malthusian mode, for most of the known history. These growth rates are compatible with a spontaneous singularity occuring at the same critical time 2052 +- 10 signaling an abrupt transition to a new regime. The degree of abruptness can be infered from the fact that the maximum of the world population growth rate was reached in 1970, i.e., about 80 years before the predicted singular time, corresponding to approximately 4% of the studied time interval over which the acceleration is documented. This rounding-off of the finite-time singularity is probably due to a combination of well-known finite-size effects and friction and suggests that we have already entered the transition region to a new regime. In theoretical support, a multivariate analysis coupling population, capital, R&D and technology shows that a dramatic acceleration in the population during most of the timespan can occur even though the isolated dynamics do not exhibit it. Possible scenarios for the cross-over and the new regime are discussed. Nottale, Chaline and Grou have recently independently applied a log-periodic analysis to the main crises of different civilisations. It is striking that these two independent analyses based on a different data set gives a critical time which is compatible within the error bars.Comment: 29 pages including 37 figures, addition of a Note Added in Proofs connecting with the independent analysis of Nottale, Chaline and Grou of economic crises and of the evolution of different civilisation

Lethology a theory of learning and knowing vis à vis undeterminables, undecidables, unknowables

First of all I want to thank the Authorities of the Comprensorio di Primiero, the sponsors and organizers of this Symposium on Cognition as Education, who gave us a unique opportunity not only to learn about the many perspectivas of learning and knowing, but also to meet old friends and colleagues from different parts of the globe, and to make new ones here at this magnificent place

La influencia de las artes marciales en el diseño de la estrategia corporativa

Durante siglos, las artes marciales han producido cambios significativos y profundos en las personas y organizaciones que las practican alrededor de todo el mundo. El conocimiento de uno mismo, el control de las fuerzas propias y de las que nos rodean y el desarrollo de habilidades especiales de negociación pueden ser aplicadas en el ambiente corporativo como escenario de combate moderno, son los pilares en los que se sustenta el Programa de DO Martial Management

Kinetic theory of age-structured stochastic birth-death processes

Classical age-structured mass-action models such as the McKendrick-von Foerster equation have been extensively studied but are unable to describe stochastic fluctuations or population-size-dependent birth and death rates. Stochastic theories that treat semi-Markov age-dependent processes using, e.g., the Bellman-Harris equation do not resolve a population's age structure and are unable to quantify population-size dependencies. Conversely, current theories that include size-dependent population dynamics (e.g., mathematical models that include carrying capacity such as the logistic equation) cannot be easily extended to take into account age-dependent birth and death rates. In this paper, we present a systematic derivation of a new, fully stochastic kinetic theory for interacting age-structured populations. By defining multiparticle probability density functions, we derive a hierarchy of kinetic equations for the stochastic evolution of an aging population undergoing birth and death. We show that the fully stochastic age-dependent birth-death process precludes factorization of the corresponding probability densities, which then must be solved by using a Bogoliubov-–Born–-Green–-Kirkwood-–Yvon-like hierarchy. Explicit solutions are derived in three limits: no birth, no death, and steady state. These are then compared with their corresponding mean-field results. Our results generalize both deterministic models and existing master equation approaches by providing an intuitive and efficient way to simultaneously model age- and population-dependent stochastic dynamics applicable to the study of demography, stem cell dynamics, and disease evolution

Changing the Environment Based on Empowerment as Intrinsic Motivation

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 3.0 which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.One aspect of intelligence is the ability to restructure your own environment so that the world you live in becomes more beneficial to you. In this paper we investigate how the information-theoretic measure of agent empowerment can provide a task-independent, intrinsic motivation to restructure the world. We show how changes in embodiment and in the environment change the resulting behaviour of the agent and the artefacts left in the world. For this purpose, we introduce an approximation of the established empowerment formalism based on sparse sampling, which is simpler and significantly faster to compute for deterministic dynamics. Sparse sampling also introduces a degree of randomness into the decision making process, which turns out to beneficial for some cases. We then utilize the measure to generate agent behaviour for different agent embodiments in a Minecraft-inspired three dimensional block world. The paradigmatic results demonstrate that empowerment can be used as a suitable generic intrinsic motivation to not only generate actions in given static environments, as shown in the past, but also to modify existing environmental conditions. In doing so, the emerging strategies to modify an agent’s environment turn out to be meaningful to the specific agent capabilities, i.e., de facto to its embodiment.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

On the promotion of catalytic reactions by surface acoustic waves

Surface acoustic waves (SAW) allow to manipulate surfaces with potential applications in catalysis,sensor and nanotechnology.SAWswere shown to cause astrong increase in catalytic activity and selectivity in many oxidation and decomposition reactions on metallic and oxidic catalysts. However,the promotion mechanism has not been unambiguously identified. Using stroboscopic X-ray photoelectron spectro-microscopy, we were able to evidence asub-nano-second work function change during propagation of 500 MHz SAWs on a9nm thick platinum film. We quantify the work function change to 455 meV.Such asmall variation rules out that electronic effects due to elastic deformation (strain) play amajor role in the SAW-induced promotion of catalysis.In asecond set of experiments,SAW-induced intermixing of afive monolayers thick Rh film on top of polycrystalline platinum was demonstrated to be due to enhanced thermal diffusion caused by an increase of the surface temperature by about 75 K when SAWs were excited. Reversible surface structural changes are suggested to be amajor cause for catalytic promotion