IV. Ecosmomics: Independent Complex Network Systems, Computational Programs, Genetic Ecode Scripts

A. A Procreative Ecode: An Ecosmome to Geonome Complementary Hereditary Endowment

Tsakmakidis, Kosmos, et al. Quantum Coherence-driven Self-Organized Criticality and Nonequilibrium Light Localization. Science Advances. May, 2018. UC Berkeley research physicists discern one more actual presence of nature’s optimum dynamic phase ineven at this deepest energetic stage. As a reflection, when I began these studies long ago (e.g., 1987 at the Santa Fe Institute to hear Harold Morowitz) the SO universality of the second quote was a remote hope. Today, in these critical condition 2020s, due to John Beggs and many others, it is vital that our worldwise natural philosopher sapience once again is able at last to perceive and realize what an epochal, numinous discovery has been achieved.

Self-organized criticality emerges in dynamical complex systems driven out of equilibrium and characterizes a wide range of classical phenomena in physics, geology, and biology. We report on a quantum coherence–controlled self-organized critical transition observed in the light localization behavior of a coherence-driven nanophotonic configuration. Our system is composed of a gain-enhanced plasmonic heterostructure controlled by a coherent drive, in which photons close to the stopped-light regime interact in the presence of the active nonlinearities. In this system we observe quantum coherence–controlled self-organized criticality in the emergence of light localization arising from the synchronization of the photons. (Excerpt)

The self-organization of many nonequilibrium complex systems toward an “ordered” state is a profound concept in basic science, ranging from biochemistry to physics.. Examples include the group movement of flocks of birds (, motions of human crowds, neutrino oscillations in the early universe, and the formation of shapes (morphogenesis) in biological organisms. An intriguing trait of this nonequilibrium, driven-dissipative systems is that their self-organization can lead them to a phase transition and to critical behavior — a phenomenon known as self-organized criticality. (1)

Vidielia, Blai, et al. Engineering Self-Organized Criticality in Living Cells. Nature Communications. 12/4415, 2021. Seven Barcelona system scientists including Ricard Sole identify and explain how cellular processes do, in fact, avail this optimum condition for their active viability. This novel appreciation is then carried forth as a way to better conceive new, beneficial biologic formations. And once again this leading edge paper goes on to note that this fittest resolve is likewise being found everywhere else so to prove a natural, one bigender code, universality.

Complex dynamical fluctuations, from intracellular noise, brain dynamics or computer traffic typically display bursting dynamics situated at a critical state between order and disorder. Living close to the critical point has adaptive advantages to an extent that it has been conjectured that life’s evolution could select for these critical states. In regard we consider the case of living cells to see if they reside in at a self-organized criticality (SOC) state. To do so we present an engineered gene network which actually displays SOC behavior, namely the proteolytic degradation of E. coli cells by means of a negative feedback loop that reduces congestion. Our critical motif is built from a two-gene circuit, where SOC can be successfully implemented. (Abstract excerpt)

Critical states are known to be part of the cognitive equipment of multicellular organisms from simple, non-neural placozoans to neural systems and animal collectives. The SOC motif might be an efficient way of generating phenotypic diversity in a microbial population and can be relevant to expand the space of synthetic biology computational designs into collective intelligence. Finally, given the analogies between our system and critical traffic in parallel computer networks, an extension of our approach could involve a 3D spatially explicit system and the development of statistical physics models of critical intracellular activity. (8)

Villani, Marco, et al. Evolving Always-Critical Networks. Life. 10/3, 2020. In this year of binocular clarity, systems physicists MV and Roberto Serra, University of Modena, and Salvatore Magri and Andrea Roli, University of Bologna, along with colleagues can well describe an optimum condition of self-organized criticality that active systems seek and prefer to reside at. As this section reports, some two decades of global research have now settled upon this vital iconic “criticality principle” from brains to genomes to quantum phases. The occasion at last achieves a resolve and proof that a reciprocal mutuality between apart/together, conserve/create, and so on is nature’s best beneficial balance (except politics which blindly pit one complement vs. the other). See also Dynamical Criticality: Overview and Open Questions by this team (Andrea Roli, et al) in the Journal of Systems Science and Complexity (31/647, 2018).

Living beings share several common features at the molecular level, but there are as yet few large-scale “operating rules” for all organisms. An interesting candidate is the “criticality” principle, which claims that biological evolution favors those regimes that are intermediaries between ordered and disordered states, “at the edge of chaos”. The reasons why this should be the case are discussed such as gene regulatory networks (GRN) which do in fact reside at the critical boundaries. In order to explore an “always-critical” state, we resort to simulated evolution via genetic algorithms which show that new individuals do indeed develop critical GRNs. (Abstract excerpt)

Therefore, critical states are in between ordered and disordered ones. The criticality principle states that these states are at an advantage with respect either to chaotic states, since they are more stable and controllable, or to ordered states, since they can better change in response to different conditions, without being stuck in the same state. If this is indeed the case, evolution should have modified the parameters in such a way that living beings are found near critical states—a statement that is, in principle, amenable to experimental verification. (2)

Let us revisit now the CP that has been introduced and discussed in Section 1, which claims that some dynamical states are advantaged with respect to other states, and that evolution drives living beings towards these “critical” states, which are neither fully ordered nor fully disordered. (13)

Systems that exhibit complex behaviours are often found in a dynamical condition which is poised between order and disorder. This observation is the essence of the criticality hypothesis, which states that such an active balance can attain the highest level of computational capabilities and an optimal trade-off between robustness and flexibility. Recent results in cellular and evolutionary biology, neuroscience and computer science have heightened interest in a preferred criticality state as a candidate general law in adaptive complex systems. (Roli, et al Abstract)

Voit, Maximilian and Hildegard Meyer-Ortmans. Emerging Criticality at Bifurcation Points in Heteroclinic Dynamics. Physical Review Research. 2/043097, 2020. Jacobs University, Bremen physicists enter one more finely perceived instance of nature’s deep propensity to seek, arrive and poise at this optimum condition, which lately seems to be in evidence at each and every occasion.

Heteroclinic dynamics is a suitable framework to describe transient dynamics that is characteristic for ecological as well as neural systems, in particular for cognitive processes. We consider different heteroclinic networks and zoom into the dynamics that emerges right at different bifurcation points. We identify features of criticality such as a proliferation of the dynamical repertoire and slowing down of the dynamics at the very bifurcations and in their immediate vicinity. It qualifies these bifurcation points as candidates for working points in systems which store and transfer information. (Abstract)

Wang, Zi-Han, et al. Power-law Distribution and Scale Invariant Structure from the First CHIME/FRB Fast Radio Burst Catalog. arXiv:2212.05229. As the abstract notes, Center for Gravitation and Cosmology, Yangzhou University and Frontier Research Center for Gravitational Waves, Shanghai Jiao Tong University physicists describe a strong. pervasive presence across levels and realms of hyper-active celestial phenomena of a tendency to arrive at a self-organized critical state. See also Scale Invariance in X-ray Flares of Gamma-ray Bursts at 2212.08813 for another SOC instance effect.

We study the statistical property of fast radio bursts (FRBs) based on a selected sample of 190 one-off FRBs in the first CHIME/FRB catalog. Three power law models are used in the analysis, and we find the cumulative distribution functions of energy can be well fitted by power law models. The q values in the Tsallis q-Gaussian distribution are constant with small fluctuations for different temporal scale intervals, indicating a scale-invariant structure of the bursts. The earthquakes and soft gamma repeaters show similar properties, which are consistent with the predictions of self-organized criticality systems. (Abstract)

Wei, Jun-Jie. Scale Invariance in X-ray Flares of Gamma-ray Bursts.. arXiv:2212.08813.. In advanced studies of these wide-spread celestial phenomena, a Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of China astronomer once again winds up with a notice and explanation of their intrinsic SOC character.

X-ray flares are produced by the reactivation of the central energy source with a dissipation mechanism as the prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). In this work, we study for the first time the differential size and return distributions of X-ray flares with known redshifts. We find that the duration, energy, and waiting time can be well fitted by a power-law function. The q-Gaussian distributions keep steady for temporal interval scales, imply a scale-invariant structure of GRB X-ray flares. These statistical features can be well explained within the physical framework of a self-organizing criticality system. (Excerpt)

West, Bruce, et al. Relating Size and Functionality in Human Social Networks through Complexity. PNAS. 117/31, 2022. We cite this entry by University of North Texas systems theorists along with Robin Dunbar, Oxford University in a major journal to show how much the pervasive presence of optimum critically organized phenomena everywhere is being perceived as a prime generative feature. In this instance, its dynamic self-organization is seen to structure and arrange our public affairs in accord with Dunbar’s popular scale (search) from a nominal five to as high as 150 members.

(Robin) Dunbar hypothesized, on the basis of empirical evidence, that a typical individual can have a stable relation with at most 150 other people. We establish that this results from the internal dynamics of a complex network. We study network models having phase transitions with criticality generates intermittent events, with time interval scales between successive events being independent. The scaling index depends on network size and direct calculations show a maximum for networks of 150 size and for information exchange efficiency. (Significance)

Extensive empirical evidence suggests that there is a maximal number of people with whom an individual can maintain social relationships. We argue that this arises as a consequence of a natural phase transition in the dynamic self-organization among individuals within a social system. We present the calculated size dependence of the scaling properties of complex social network models to argue that this collective behavior is an enhanced form of collective intelligence. (Abstract)

In keeping with the criticality hypothesis, it is reasonable to associate functionality and size with the emergence of complexity. This step is achieved by critical dynamics and events. Complexity is manifest in the collective behavior of nonlinear dynamic networks by way of the concept of collective intelligence (18356).

Xu, Yifan, et al. Sleep restores an optimal computational regime in cortical networks.. Nature Neuroscience.. 27/328, 2024. Washington University, St. Louis biologists including Ralf Wessel and Keith Hengen add another instance of the brain’s propensity to more or less reside in a preferred self-organized state. After a long, tiring day, they find that our a good night’s rest then serves to restore this optimum condition.

Sleep is assumed to subserve homeostatic processes in the brain; however, the set point around which sleep tunes circuit computations is unknown. Slow-wave activity (SWA) is used to reflect the homeostatic aspects; it does not explain why animals need sleep. This study aimed to assess whether criticality may be the set point of sleep. By recording cortical neuron activity in freely behaving rats, we show that normal waking experience can disrupt this poise and that sleep functions to restore critical dynamics. Our results demonstrate that perturbation and recovery of criticality is a network homeostatic mechanism consistent with the core, restorative function of sleep. (Excerpt)

Zamponi, Nahuel, et al. Scale Free Density and Fluctuations in the Dynamics of Large Microbial Ecosystems. arXiv:2206.12384. Four senior researchers with postings in the USA, Argentina, Poland, and Italy including Dante Chialvo discuss how these critically poised features, just as everywhere else from the ISM to the Internet it seems, serve suffuse and enhance bacterial assemblies. Once again a vital, dynamic poise between stability and flexibility, aka “nature’s sweet spot” as coined by Chialvo, seems best.

Microorganisms self-organize in extensive communities exhibiting complex fluctuations. But the ways that these systems can achieve variability along with a basic robustness is not well explained. Here we analyze three aspects of microbiota and plankton: density changes, the correlation structure and an avalanching fluidity. Our results find scale-free densities, anomalous variance' stages, abundance relations and stationary scale-free waves in effect. These behaviors, which typically occur in critically poised systems, suggest this active state is a way to explain both the robust and irregular phases and processes of copious microbial colonies.

Zhang, Wen-Long, et al. Self-organized critical characteristics of TeV-photons from GRB 221009A. arXiv:2412.16052. In December, Qufu Normal University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, Huazhong University, Wuhan, Nanjing University and Central China Normal University astrophysicists report a sophisticated analysis to date of the presence of nature’s title phenomena even in these extreme celestial occasions.

The high-energy afterglow in GRB 221009A has been previously analyzed. In this paper, we study of the waiting time behavior of 172 TeV photons observed by LHAASO-KM2A. We found that (I) The photon distribution deviates from the exponential distribution. (II) Their behavior of these photons resembles those of a self-organized critical system, with power-law and scale-invariance features. In summary, the power-law and scale-free characteristics observed in these photons imply a self-organized critical process in the generation of TeV photons from GRB 221009A. (Excerpt)

The concept of self-organized criticality (SOC) has been widely observed in various natural systems. The primary manifestation of SOC systems is the power-law distribution of statistical parameters such as time and energy for multiple events, as well as the characteristic of scale invariance. Systems ranging from sand piles to celestial bodies such as the Earth, the Sun, black holes soft gamma-ray repeaters, and high-mass X-ray binaries, have exhibited the characteristics of self-organized critical systems. (1)

GRB 221009A was an extraordinarily bright and energetic gamma-ray burst (GRB) discovered by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope on October 9, 2022. Despite being around 2.4 billion light-years away, it was powerful enough to affect Earth's atmosphere.

Zhou, Zheng, et al. Fractal Quantum Phase Transitions: Critical Phenomena Beyond Renormalization. arXiv:2105.05851. We note this entry by Fudan University, Chongqing University, Technical University of Munich and Princeton University physicists as they proceed to find one more instance of nature’s dynamic preference even way down in this long arcane, foundational realm.

Quantum critical points connecting different phases have broad implications in modern many-body physics. Their universal features are determined using the renormalization group (RG) theory, since salient properties at the phase transition point can be discerned by coarse-graining the local fluctuations and focusing on the physics at the long wavelength limit. Based on this observation, a wide class of universal phenomena can be revealed by symmetry, locality, and dimensionality. Here we investigate a special type fractal symmetry. (1)

Zhu, Hao-Fu, et al. Rapid cooling of the Cassiopeia A neutron star due to superfluid quantum criticality. arXiv:2410.21945.. As one present example of the wide and deep instrumental and theoretic compass of Earthuman scientific acumen, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei astrophysicists describe their discoveries of this preferred critical behavior even across quantum cosmological realms.

The rapid cooling of the neutron star in Cassiopeia A is speculated to arise from a neutrino emission due to the onset of 3P2-wave neutron superfluidity in the core. Here, we show that such phenomena can be explained once the non-Fermi liquid behavior induced by superfluid quantum criticality is included into the theoretical description. The good agreement between our results and observational cooling data implicates the pivotal role played by the these nonlinear dynamics even in such quantum cosmological realms. (Abstract)

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