Chance, Calculation and Life

Thierry Gaudin is an engineer at MINES ParisTech and holds a doctorate in Information Sciences and Communication from Paris Nanterre University, France. He is a widely renowned expert in innovation policy and has worked with the OECD, the European Commission and the World Bank. Marie-Christine Maurel is Professor at Sorbonne University and a researcher at the Institute of Systematics, Evolution, Biodiversity, MNHN, Paris, France. Jean-Charles Pomerol is Professor Emeritus at Sorbonne University, France. He is a specialist in Decision Support Systems and former project leader for information technology in the Engineering Sciences Department at the CNRS. He was formerly in charge of the Artificial Intelligence laboratory at UPMC, Paris, as well as the President of UPMC between 2006 and 2011.

• Preface xiThierry GAUDIN, Marie-Christine MAUREL, Jean-Charles POMEROLIntroduction xvThierry GAUDIN, Marie-Christine MAUREL, Jean-Charles POMEROLPart 1. Randomness in all of its Aspects 1Chapter 1. Classical, Quantum and Biological Randomness as Relative Unpredictability 3Cristian S. CALUDE and Giuseppe LONGO1.1. Introduction 31.1.1. Brief historical overview 41.1.2. Preliminary remarks 51.2. Randomness in classical dynamics 61.3. Quantum randomness 81.4. Randomness in biology 151.5. Random sequences: a theory invariant approach 211.6. Classical and quantum randomness revisited 241.6.1. Classical versus algorithmic randomness 241.6.2. Quantum versus algorithmic randomness 261.7. Conclusion and opening: toward a proper biological randomness 271.8. Acknowledgments 301.9. References 30Chapter 2. In The Name of Chance 37Gilles PAGÈS2.1. The birth of probabilities and games of chance 372.1.1. Solutions 382.1.2. To what end? 402.2. A very brief history of probabilities 412.3. Chance? What chance? 422.4. Prospective possibility 452.4.1. LLN + CLT + ENIAC = MC 452.4.2. Generating chance through numbers 462.4.3. Going back the other way 482.4.4. Prospective possibility as master of the world? 502.5. Appendix: Congruent generators, can prospective chance be periodic? 532.5.1. A little modulo n arithmetic 532.5.2. From erratic arithmetic to algorithmic randomness 562.5.3. And, the winner is... Mersenne Twister 623.. 602.6. References 61Chapter 3. Chance in a Few Languages 63Clarisse HERRENSCHMIDT3.1. Classical Sanskrit 643.2. Persian and Arabic 653.3. Ancient Greek 663.4. Russian 673.5. Latin 673.6. French 693.7. English 713.8. Dice, chance and the symbolic world 723.9. References 77Chapter 4. The Collective Determinism of Quantum Randomness 79François VANNUCCI4.1. True or false chance 794.2. Chance sneaks into uncertainty 814.3. The world of the infinitely small 824.4. A more figurative example 844.5. Einstein’s act of resistance 864.6. Schrödinger’s cat to neutrino oscillations 874.7. Chance versus the anthropic principle 904.8. And luck in life? 924.9. Chance and freedom 94Chapter 5. Wave-Particle Chaos to the Stability of Living 97Stéphane DOUADY5.1. Introduction 975.2. The chaos of the wave-particle 975.3. The stability of living things 1045.4. Conclusion 1075.5. Acknowledgments 1085.6. References 108Chapter 6. Chance in Cosmology: Random and Turbulent Creation of Multiple Cosmos 109Michel CASSÉ6.1. Is quantum cosmology oxymoronic? 1096.2. Between two realities – at the entrance and exit – is virtuality 1206.3. Who will sing the metamorphoses of this high vacuum? 1206.4. Loop lament 1216.5. The quantum vacuum exists, Casimir has met it 1226.6. The generosity of the quantum vacuum 1226.7. Landscapes 1266.8. The good works of Inflation 1286.9. Sub species aeternitatis 1296.10. The smiling vacuum 130Chapter 7. The Chance in Decision: When Neurons Flip a Coin 133Mathias PESSIGLIONE7.1. A very subjective utility 1337.2. A minimum rationality 1347.3. There is noise in the choices 1357.4. On the volatility of parameters 1377.5. When the brain wears rose-tinted glasses 1387.6. The neurons that take a vote 1407.7. The will to move an index finger 1427.8. Free will in debate 1437.9. The virtue of chance 1447.10. References 145Chapter 8. To Have a Sense of Life: A Poetic Reconnaissance 147Georges AMAR8.1. References 157Chapter 9. Divine Chance 159Bertrand VERGELY9.1. Thinking by chance 1599.2. Chance, need: why choose? 1609.3. When chance is not chance 1629.4. When chance comes from elsewhere 166Chapter 10. Chance and the Creative Process 169Ivan MAGRIN-CHAGNOLLEAU10.1. Introduction 16910.2. Chance 17010.3. Creation 17310.4. Chance in the artistic creative process 17610.5. An art of the present moment 17910.6. Conclusion 18110.7. References 182Part 2. Randomness, Biology and Evolution 185Chapter 11. Epigenetics, DNA and Chromatin Dynamics: Where is the Chance and Where is the Necessity? 187David SITBON and Jonathan B. WEITZMAN11.1. Introduction 18711.2. Random combinations 18711.3. Random alterations 18811.4. Beyond the gene 18911.5. Epigenetic variation 19011.6. Concluding remarks 19211.7. Acknowledgments 19311.8. References 193Chapter 12. When Acquired Characteristics Become Heritable: The Lesson of Genomes 197Bernard DUJON12.1. Introduction 19712.2. Horizontal genetic exchange in prokaryotes 19912.3. Two specificities of eukaryotes theoretically oppose horizontal gene transfer 20012.4. Criteria for genomic analysis 20112.5. Abundance of horizontal transfers in unicellular eukaryotes 20212.6. Remarkable horizontal genetic transfers in pluricellular eukaryotes 20312.7. Main mechanisms of horizontal genetic transfers 20412.8. Introgressions and limits to the concept of species 20712.9. Conclusion 20812.10. References 208Chapter 13. The Evolutionary Trajectories of Organisms are Not Stochastic 213Philippe GRANDCOLAS13.1. Evolution and stochasticity: a few metaphors 21313.2. The Gouldian metaphor of the “replay” of evolution 21413.3. The replay of evolution: what happened 21513.4. Evolutionary replay experiments 21713.5. Phylogenies versus experiments 21813.6. Stochasticity, evolution and extinction 21913.7. Conclusion 21913.8. References 220Chapter 14. Evolution in the Face of Chance 221Amaury LAMBERT14.1. Introduction 22114.2. Waddington and the concept of canalization 22414.3. A stochastic model of Darwinian evolution 22814.3.1. Redundancy and neutral networks 22814.3.2. A toy model 22914.3.3. Mutation-selection algorithm 23114.4. Numerical results 23114.4.1. Canalization 23114.4.2. Target selection 23414.4.3. Neighborhood selection 23514.5. Discussion 23814.6. Acknowledgments 239Chapter 15. Chance, Contingency and the Origins of Life: Some Historical Issues 241Antonio LAZCANO15.1. Acknowledgments 24615.2. References 246Chapter 16. Chance, Complexity and the Idea of a Universal Ethics 249Jean-Paul DELAHAYE16.1. Cosmic evolution and advances in computation 25016.2. Two notions of complexity 25116.3. Biological computations 25216.4. Energy and emergy 25316.5. What we hold onto 25416.6. Noah knew this already! 25416.7. Create, protect and collect 25516.8. An ethics of organized complexity 25516.9. Not so easy 25616.10. References 258List of Authors 261Index 265