VIII. Earth Earns: An Open CoCreative Earthropocene to Astropocene PediaVerse

1. Mind Over Matter and Energy: Quantum, Atomic, Chemical, Astronomic Realms

Lazarides, Nikos and George Tsironis. Superconducting Metamaterials. arXiv:1712.01323. For one more example, University of Crete physicists employ quantum qubits, superradiance, induced coherence, and more to form “novel multistable, self-organized, dynamic states” as a new beneficial phase of material creativity. One might go on to note that some two millennia after the dawn of western civilization in this Greek archipelago, presently beset with economic straits, our human intellect as it may now draw upon a worldwide science, might commence again a new, beneficial creation.

Metamaterials , i.e. artificial media designed to achieve properties not available in natural materials, have been the focus of intense research during the last two decades. Many properties have been discovered and multiple designs have been devised that lead to multiple conceptual and practical applications. Superconducting MMs have the advantage of ultra low losses, a highly desirable feature. The additional use of the Josephson effect and SQUID configurations produce further specificity and functionality. SQUID-based MMs are both theoretically investigated but also fabricated and analyzed experimentally in many labs and exciting new phenomena have been found both in the classical and quantum realms. (Abstract excerpts)

Leal, Wilmer and Guillermo Restrepo. Formal Structure of Periodic Systems of Elements. Proceedings of the Royal Society A. Online April 3, 2019. Some century and a half after Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907) initially noticed how atomic elements could be arrayed into a repetitive manner, MPI Mathematics in the Sciences informatic theorists are able to discern a “similarity order” which spreads across the full table as a node and link pattern. The visual layout then seems to suggest a natural design and dynamics which we peoples, as intended, are just now discovering. See also Machine Learning Material Properties from the Periodic Table using Convolutional Neural Networks (Xiaolong Zheng, et al 2018 herein) for another version of late 2010s insights.

For more than 150 years, the structure of the periodic system of the chemical elements has intensively motivated research in different areas of chemistry and physics. However, there is still no unified picture of what a periodic system is. Herein, based on the relations of order and similarity, we report a formal mathematical structure for the periodic system, which corresponds to an ordered hypergraph. It is shown that the current periodic system of chemical elements is an instance of the general structure. The definition is used to devise a tailored periodic system of polarizability of single covalent bonds, where order relationships are quantified within subsets of similar bonds and among these classes. The generalized periodic system allows envisioning periodic systems in other disciplines of science and humanities. (Abstract)

Lehn, Jean-Marie. Toward Complex Matter: Supramolecular Chemistry and Self-Organization. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 99/4763, 2002. A computer-based revolution is now able to recognize and employ an initial “informed dynamics” and subsequent selection at work in chemical and biological reactions which augurs for the “designed” creation of new materials.

As the winds of time blows into the sails of space, the unfolding of the universe nurtures the evolution of matter under the pressure of information. From divided to condensed and on to organized, living and thinking matter, the path is toward an increase in complexity through self-organization. (4763)

Liardet, Pierre, et al, eds. Artificial Evolution. Berlin: Springer, 2004. In many areas from botany to robotics, scientists are increasingly employing genetics algorithms, artificial life, cellular automata, population dynamics and so on, which could be seen as an intentional continuation and enhancement of life’s natural florescence.

Lloyd, Seth. Computation from Geometry. Science. 292/1669, 2001. From an MIT physicist, a succinct introduction to future computers based on quantum phenomena.

Any system in which quantum bits can be taken on a nontrivial walk through potential space is a good candidate for holonomic quantum logic.

Lookman, Turab, et al, eds. Information Science for Materials Discovery and Design. Berlin: Springer, 2015. A volume that gathers several 2010s endeavors such as the Material Genome Initiative, Integrated Computational Materials Engineering, (Google each) and others, under this algorithmic theme. An opening chapter is A Perspective on Materials Informatics, with other entries on Bayesian Optimization, Data Visualization, Hidden Structures in Complex Physical Systems (search Nussinov), Combinatorial Materials Science and so on. In a phenomenal Natural Genesis, these robust, sophisticated efforts can attest to a potential passage of cosmic self-creation to a our human radically intentional, evolitionary phase.

This book deals with an information-driven approach to plan materials discovery and design, iterative learning. The authors present contrasting but complementary approaches, such as those based on high throughput calculations, combinatorial experiments or data driven discovery, together with machine-learning methods. Similarly, statistical methods successfully applied in other fields, such as biosciences, are presented. The content spans from materials science to information science to reflect the cross-disciplinary nature of the field. A perspective is presented that offers a paradigm (codesign loop for materials design) to involve iteratively learning from experiments and calculations to develop materials with optimum properties. Such a loop requires the elements of incorporating domain materials knowledge, a database of descriptors (the genes), a surrogate or statistical model developed to predict a given property with uncertainties, performing adaptive experimental design to guide the next experiment or calculation and aspects of high throughput calculations as well as experiments. (Blurb excerpt)

Louie, Steven, et al. Discovering and Understanding Materials through Computation. Nature Materials. June, 2021. UC Berkeley, Stanford and Yale researchers introduce and embellish this leading edge approach by which to mathematically conjure substantial creations. Two titles are Electronic Structure Methods for Materials Design and Mesoscopic and Multiscale Modelling. See also The Rise of Intelligent Matter by Steven Louie, et al in Nature (594/345, 2021). So herewith is another manifest instance of our Earthuman acumen beginning to initiate a new natural cocreativity.

Materials modelling and design using computational quantum and classical approaches has become well established as an essential pillar in condensed matter physics, chemistry and materials science research. The 21st century has witnessed steady advances by which to understand and predict the ground-state, excited-state and dynamical properties of materials from molecules to nanoscopic/mesoscopic scale to larger dimensional systems. The four entries in this Perspective give a brief overview, as well as some future challenges and opportunities. (Abstract excerpt)

Lu, Ziaobo, et al. Superconductors, Orbital Magnets, and Correlated States in Magic Angle Bilayer Graphene. arXiv:1903.06513. Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, UT Austin, National Institute for Material Science, Japan, and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing condensed matter physicists tap into nature’s seemingly endless array of material properties for human benefit and creative avail. Companion entries are With a Simple Twist, “Magic” Material is Now the Big Thing in Physics by David Freedman in Quanta Magazine, (April 30, 2019), and Unconventional Supercondictivity in Magic-Angle Graphene Superlattices in Nature (556/43, 2018).

Superconductivity often occurs close to broken-symmetry parent states and is especially common in doped magnetic insulators. When twisted close to a magic relative orientation angle near 1 degree, bilayer graphene has flat moire superlattice minibands that have emerged as a rich and highly tunable source of strong correlation physics, notably the appearance of superconductivity close to interaction-induced insulating states. Here we report on the fabrication of bilayer graphene devices with exceptionally uniform twist angles. Our study shows that symmetry-broken states, interaction driven insulators, and superconducting domes are common across the entire moire flat bands, including near charge neutrality. (Abstract excerpt)

Luisi, Pier Luigi and Cristiano Chiarabelli, eds. Chemical Synthetic Biology. New York: Wiley, 2011. A table of contents and sample first chapter are available on the publisher’s book webpage. Four parts cover Nucleic Acids, Peptides and Proteins, Complex Systems, and General Problems. Dr. Luisi introduces, and a typical chapter is “Synthetic Genetic Codes as the Basis of Synthetic Life” by J. Tze-Fei Wong and Hong Xue

Chemistry plays a very important role in the emerging field of synthetic biology. In particular, chemical synthetic biology is concerned with the synthesis of chemical structures, such as proteins, that do not exist in nature. With contributions from leading international experts, Chemical Synthetic Biology shows how chemistry underpins synthetic biology. The book is an essential guide to this fascinating new field, and will find a place on the bookshelves of researchers and students working in synthetic chemistry, synthetic and molecular biology, bioengineering, systems biology, computational genomics, and bioinformatics. (Publisher)

Makey, Ghaith, et al. Universality of Dissipative Self-Assembly from Quantum Dots to Human Cells. Nature Physics. 16/7, 2020. A 15 member project at the National Nanotechnology Research Center and Institute of Materials Science, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey well quantifies nature’s deep autocatalytic, self-organizing propensities from quantum to organic cellularity. These constant processes across a wide domain is then seen to express a universal repetition in kind. The work merited a review Dissipate Your Way to Self-Assembly by Gili Bisker (Tel Aviv University) in the same issue. So at the same while that the Hagia Sophia (holy wisdom) is reverting back to a mosque, Turkish scientists, whose achievement is praised by a Jewish woman, contribute and look forward to a new common creation.

An important goal of self-assembly research is to develop a general methodology applicable to almost any material, from the smallest to the largest scales, whereby qualitatively identical results are obtained independently of initial conditions, size, shape and function of the constituents. Here, we introduce a dissipative self-assembly methodology demonstrated on a diverse spectrum of materials, from simple, passive, identical quantum dots (a few hundred atoms) that experience extreme Brownian motion, to complex, active, non-identical human cells (~1017 atoms) with sophisticated internal dynamics. Autocatalytic growth curves of the self-assembled aggregates are shown to scale identically, and interface fluctuations of growing aggregates obey the universal Tracy–Widom law. (Abstract)

Marcovich, Anne and Terry Shinn. Toward a New Dimension: Exploring the Nanoscale. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. An update introduction to these microscape frontiers of physical and biological co-creation. In a section entitled Life as a Dynamic Lego Game, in accord with a nature that “tinkers” by trying out many candidates, a program is proposed to include and balance both selective effects along with an intentional engineering design.

Marelli, Benedetto, et al. Programming Function into Mechanical Forms by Directed Assembly of Silk Bulk Materials. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114/451, 2017. An eight member team of Tufts University biomedical, chemical, and electrical engineers quantify how these exemplary fabrics have been formed by nature, and then go on to discuss their novel, intentional advance and use. The work merited a report in the same issue as When Bottom-Up Meets Top Down by the Israeli chemists Zvi Shtein and Oded Shoseyov where this evolutionary passage of natural materiality onto humanly creative intention is given notice.

We report simple, water-based fabrication methods based on protein self-assembly to generate 3D silk fibroin bulk materials that can be easily hybridized with water-soluble molecules to obtain multiple solid formats with predesigned functions. Controlling self-assembly leads to robust, machinable formats that exhibit thermoplastic behavior consenting material reshaping at the nanoscale, microscale, and macroscale. We illustrate the versatility of the approach by realizing demonstrator devices where large silk monoliths can be generated, polished, and reshaped into functional mechanical components that can be nanopatterned, embed optical function, heated on demand in response to infrared light, or can visualize mechanical failure through colorimetric chemistries embedded in the assembled (bulk) protein matrix. Finally, we show an enzyme-loaded solid mechanical part, illustrating the ability to incorporate biological function within the bulk material with possible utility for sustained release in robust, programmably shapeable mechanical formats. (Abstract)

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