We are excited to host Thomas F. Varley (University of Vermont) in the BeyondTheEdge Seminar series:
Dark information in complex systems
Networks comprised of pairwise connections between elements of a system are one of the dominant mathematical approaches to modeling complex systems, having been leveraged for everything from modeling pandemics to the neuroscience of consciousness. Being dyadic, however, any higher-order interactions can only be inferred obliquely through observing the pattern of lower-order dependencies. In this talk, I argue that networks (as well as other favorite models, such as manifold-learning) are systematically blind to a large class of higher-order dependencies: specifically synergistic information present in the joint-state of multiple elements but not learnable from any subset of the whole. I make an analogy with dark-matter in cosmology: dark matter appears to form the vast majority of the "stuff" in known Universe, but our best tools and models have limited capacity to interact with it. Similarly, "dark information" may form the vast amount of "structure" in complex systems, but the established tools (networks, manifold learning), also have limited capacity to interact with it. By considering the formal details of multivariate information, as well as case-studied from neuroscience, I argue that "dark information" represents a vast, and largely unexplored frontier of research in complex systems.
About the speaker
Thomas F. Varley is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the University of Vermont in the United States. He completed is double Ph.D. in Complex Networks and Systems and in Computational Neurosciences from Indiana University Bloomington. In their research they specialize in the study of emergent properties of complex systems with particular emphasis on higher-order interactions in the brain, the biological basis of neural computation and the role of the central nervous system in post-viral illness. Beyond their research, they are also a writer, interested in how we make sense of the complex world that we live in. As an artist, working in mediums of ceramics and blown glass, they are interested in pattern, form, and repetition in Nature.
Join the seminar
https://polito-it.zoom.us/j/86083446447?pwd=vUksdgbAWkAb0Dw2T5v1r0jaA2G5oX.1 (Meeting ID: 860 8344 6447, Passcode: 664253)