EFTA00606986.pdf

The Roger Penrose Institute for the Study of Creativity, Consciousness and Cosmology EFTA00606986  Contents Introduction to the Institute Sir Roger Penrose The Three Areas of Research 1. Human and Artificial Intelligence Quantum Biology Laboratory III. New Physics & The Origin of Our Universe Mathematical Play Aging and Cognitive Longevity The Institute Plan Collaboration Methodology Structure and Funding of the Institute Visioning 5 years in the future - what did we discover? Why San Diego FAQ Appendices The Penrose Institute 2016-17 2 EFTA00606987  Introduction to the Institute We are entering a new scientific era where the unification of quantum mechanics and general relativity will create new physics and new devices. 30 years ago Roger Penrose wrote a seminal book — The Emperors New Mind. Unification, he said, would require modification to quantum mechanics and that modification would explain human consciousness. Scientists met his proposal with scepticism. Quantum phenomena were only known in laboratories near absolute zero. But, recent breakthroughs show quantum phenomena are important in biology at room temperature. Photosynthesis gets its efficiency from coherent transport of energy, and some birds have a quantum compass located in their eyes. We believe studying unification will throw light on the fundamental laws of physics and generate technology in the fields of AI, human disease and aging, along with developing new types of incredibly sensitive sensors to probe the universe and our planet. lopuroy v .0. 4 Human Intelligence Quantum Biology New Physics ®The Penrose Institute 2016-17 3 EFTA00606988 Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS Sir Roger Penrose, Emeritus Professor at the Mathematical Institute of the University of Oxford, Emeritus Fellow at Wadham College, and winner of the Wolf Prize in Physics has made profound contributions across a broad range of scientific disciplines. His work encompasses geometry, black hole singularities, the unification of quantum mechanics and gravity, the structure of space-lime, and the origin of our Universe. His geometric creations inspired the works of Esther, and the Penrose steps have been featured in several movies. His filings adorn many public buildings, including the Oxford Mathematics Institute (pictured), and will soon decorate the San Francisco BART system. The five fold symmetry, initially thought impossible or a mathematical curiosity, has now been found in nature. In 1989 Penrose wrote The Emperor's New Mind which challenged the premise that consciousness is computation and proposes we need new • physics to understand it. Ile \won •••• • •••=1 limperos .1. • •••• r•••• • New Mead shadows ol the mind ROGER PENROSE • • The Penrose Institute 2016-17 EFTA00606989  Areas of Research I. Intelligence (Human and Artificial) Human intelligence appears to be very different from today's artificial intelligence. But, artificial intelligence is getting stronger by the day. Is there something human beings can do that an artificial intelligence cannot do? This is both a fundamental question in mathematics and a question with enormous social implications as we decide what people should learn in the next few decades, and how we should best work with artificial intelligence in the future. II. Quantum Biology Laboratory It used to be thought quantum mechanics played no part in biology and was confined to experiments near absolute zero in physics laboratories. A revolution is taking place. We now understand quantum mechanics is important in modelling chemical processes in the body, such as, protein folding in the presence of water. More excitingly, we have seen the first indications of exotic quantum effects. Photosynthesis gains its efficiency from quantum coupling and some birds appear to use a quantum compasses located in their eyes. How important are quantum effects in the body and, do we need new physics to explain the working of the brain? III. New Physics and the Origins of our Universe We will investigate the interplay of quantum physics, general relativity and information theory. Roger Penrose's work on Quantum gravity (twistor theory) and conformal cyclic cosmology along with non-causal computing already open new theoretical approaches. We will explore the possibility of incorporating recent developments in quantum information, quantum biology and quantum thermodynamics to build a bridge between the physics of the brain and consciousness. Theories will be tested in quantum systems such as Bose-Einstein Condensates (BECs). New physics might not only help us understand human consciousness, but also provide a deeper understanding of the origin of the Universe itself. ®The Penrose Institute 2016-17 EFTA00606990  Institute Concept Map (Neuronal Computation) (pooling Al) (Vooling the Brain) (Photon Entanglement) (Photon Echo) (Non-computable) (Quantum effects) ...... of Anaesthesia (Computational) (Al/HI Collaboration) .... % E .... (Intelligence) ... (Experimentation) .. (Modelling) /.• (Brain Imaging) (?uantum Lice) (Quantum siology).-(The Penrose Institut so (QG Experiment) (QC SEC Telescope) ." e % ze (Synthesis) (Mathematical Play) ew (Tabletop Quantum Cravie (Word Problen)—(Non-Cornputable Puzzles) . e. (Quantem>""--»'1 / e 1 i I .e. (General Relativity) (QG Theories) ( Quantum Collapse) (Wang Tiles) e % Fs ' 1 \ % Cnterpnetatiorts) no (Cosmology)ogy) (Arrows of Time to i \ (Twister Theoty) % (VR Impossible Geometries` (Orch-OR) (Cosmic Cycli (and Consciousness) (Information) lb The Penrose Institute 2016-17 EFTA00606991  Scientific Philosophy The institute will follow the scientific philosophy of Roger Penrose across a broad range of interrelated scientific domains. This philosophy is born of a passion to uncover paradoxes in our current understanding of physics and propose new ideas that can be experimentally tested. Such tests may, of cause, result in the disproof of the ideas, even his own! Our principles: • Uncover paradoxes and failings in our current physics theorems. • Consider both the physical world and the minds which observe it. • Be creative, novel and challenge the status quo. • Follow a rigorous and detailed scientific method with falsifiable experiments. • Be unfashionable, brave and controversial without being discourteous. • If a principle needs to be changed, explain why and change it! O The Penrose Institute 2016-17 7 EFTA00606992  I. Human & Artificial Intelligence s `7 never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking"— Albert Einstein EFTA00606993  The Intelligence Question At the heart of the artificial intelligence debate is a fundamental disagreement between two theories of the human mind. Proponents of strong AI argue the human brain is a computer. As computers become ever more powerful, following Moore's law, they will eventually eclipse human intelligence, perhaps even this century. On the other hand, many scientists and philosophers believe the human brain is not a computer. Explaining why is hard. The human mind appears to be the only structure that uses conscious action to create new things. Such creativity might surpass the capability of a Turing Machine and this is the belief of Roger Penrose. However, Al technologists are making progress in building computers that appear to display creative intelligence. This is a live debate. Our Goal: To examine creative thinking through practical experimentation and theoretical work so that we might understand how the brain achieves its power, improve that power and better inform our ability to work with AIs in the future. One Penrose Institute 2016-17 9 EFTA00606994  Impact of AI on Society Over the next few decades AI will profoundly change the nature of human work. What should humans do with our apparently unique gift of creative intelligence. Is this gift truly unique? 1e.) The Penrose Institute 21/16-17 10 EFTA00606995  Finding Creativity in the Brain We will identify people with exceptional abilities at solving non-computable puzzles, image and record their fMRI, MEG and EEG activity during the process. We hope to identify brain regions and EEG frequencies and patterns associated with non- computability. These patterns will then be used as feedback to enhance and train non- computable creative processes. M • cia•k..e ./4e Is mi. 'mad • . MIK . • • • 11.• • • • I I .7 -:+ I • • • • • • • • • • SDI ...... THE IMITATION GAME c. 1 LI NIQIIT I Recruit people who can solve non - Offer them a Image the brains using computable puzzles in a similar combination of MEG, EEG, fMRI and fashion to the way code breakers computable and non• others technologies to were recruited in World War II. computable puzzles see which areas of the to work on. brain are involved. e The Penrose Institute 2016-17 11 EFTA00606996  Insights, Outcomes, Spin-outs Theoretical • Locate the boundaries between computable intelligence and creative intelligence. • Research how human brains might be creative when this would normally be a non- computable operation — computational 'tricks' or non-computable operation. • Demonstrate how non-computable / non-causal models of computation might go beyond current Turing architectures. • Research fundamental questions of mathematics such as determinism. • Determine whether non-Turing computable proofs have Godel incompleteness. • Develop new objective forms of Turing Tests. Experimental • Locate the 'seat' (or process or pattern) of creativity within the brain. • Create better interfaces between human intelligence (HI) and artificial intelligence. • Develop extended computational models such as non-causal computing. • Investigate the inheritance of creativity Spinout / Partnerships • New forms of efficient computational systems. • Artificial/human intelligence collaboration systems. • Training and improving creativity ®The Penrose Institute 2016-17 12 EFTA00606997  (0 The Penrose Institute 2016-17 II. Quantum Biology Laboratory "And you are made of a hundred trillion cells. We are, each of us, a multitude."— Carl Sagan, Cosmos 19 EFTA00606998  The Quantum Neuron?.. Current studies focus on the connectome — the map of connections between the neurons. Sophisticated maps are being built by governments, including the US BRAIN Initiative and the EU Human Brain Project (HBP), along with private institutes such as The Allen Brain Institute. The EU project aims to simulate the brain by running a model of the connectome on super-computers. However, problems arise as a pure connectome model does not appear to capture sufficient information to model the seemingly simple neural networks such as the the C. elegans nematode worm. Recent discoveries suggest quantum effects might be significant in brain tissue. Van Wedeen, NIartinos Center and Dept. of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital Our goal: To probe and model the sub-neuronal structure of and Harvard University Medical School the human brain and determine whether, and in what manner, small scale and quantum effects are significant to its operation. Understanding how quantum effects might be a factor in neurons would add beneficially to human k., knowledge and help in all manner of practical problems, from improving human cognition to curing brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and lead to new forms of computing machine. ®The Penrose Institute 2016-17 14 EFTA00606999  Quantum Brain Tissue Experiments Quantum Quantum Quantum Quantum Modelling Imaging Resonance & Transmission Entanglement Photon Entanglement Through Travis Craddock Anirban Bandyopadhyay group Sahu et al, 201.2a; 20136; 2014 Brain Tissue et. at Nova Lingyan Shil,2,2 , Enrique J. Galvez4 & Robert R. Alfanol ®The Penrose Institute 2016-17 15 EFTA00607000  Un-Consciousness in Vitro The Meyer-Overton correlation for anesthetics In the last year it has become possible to test living tissue at the nano scale so that we can uncover quantum effects. 100 I .•Me It is our intention to apply these technologies to attempt 10 wen n-one* ir ensoner to understand consciousness. heroman../0 09100 • Our main probes for consciousness are anesthetics. Gicringeemwenemeno Croenamn• We can anesthetize a human subject and they will 0, appear to go unconscious and report that they did so moo [rpm***** 4 1000 filhir once reawakened. There are two main gaps in our i, 01 0.01w.0.••\ understanding. We do not understand how svoivymnanile : - anesthetics work and we don't have an objective 0 01 0.1 10 100 1000 measure for unconsciousness, let alone consciousness' Olive atoms Darman coefficient • Anesthetic effectiveness correlates with solubility of the compound or gas in olive oil, suggesting polar effects are significant. It is unknown where the anesthetics act to give their effect. • Our experimentation will involve anesthetizing brain tissue and looking for key quantum effects such as bulk conductivity, resonance and preservation of quantum information. O The Penrose Institute 2016-17 EFTA00607001  Nano-Brain-Technology Our approach is made possible due to recent improvements in nanotechnology and modelling which we intent to further enhance. • Tri-axial 0.5nm probe tips (patch damps) are now available. • Relatively unbreakable • Repeatable probing • True ion channel resolution • Broad frequency range • High speed optical cameras • High speed images can be taken across a broad visible spectrum. • Neuron Culturing for Human, Neanderthal and Animal models • A range of different neurons can be generated from stem cells • DNA segments can be spliced into neurons to vary their genetic makeup • Culture can be kept alive for several months allowing training and characterization • High fidelity molecular modelling • Proteins can now be computationally modelled with an accurate depiction of water • Quantum computing is beginning to become available to perform the modelling ®The Penrose Institute 2016-17 17 EFTA00607002  Locating Neuronal 'Creativity' We are able to culture a range of neurons with features from different species, including Neanderthals — man's closest relative. In their several hundred thousand year existence they did not develop language or tool use. It is suggested this failure occurred because they devoted larger portions of their brain to motor control. However, it might be better explained through difference in the fundamental working of their neurons. This might allow us to locate the fundamental neuronal structures which explain homosapien creativity and language. Human Neanderthal ,g)The Penrose Institute 2016-17 is EFTA00607003  Quantum Measurement (Orch-OR) At Some Point our Neurons Must Perceive the Cat as Dead or Alive We can build highly sensitive quantum systems to keep photons in superposition (• r - t • and detect their spontaneous decay. We can probe neurons presented with Cat Alive superposition and determine how they respond at the point of measurement. We can also test inert quantum-gravity measuring devices with similar schemes. This tests a number of quantum interpretations including Orch-OR. We obsetve oniy-one7 outcome' m e Space-time ■ superpoSition of some neurons t) The Penrose Institute 2016-17 19 EFTA00607004  Solving the Halting Problem with Biological Neurons Computation with Neurons • Human neurons are the most efficient and effective computational elements known. They are the fundamental basis of consciousness and creativity. Can we build a computer out of them? Even better, can we build a system based on human neurons to carry out non- computable operations? • The fundamental non-computable operation is Turing's "Halting Problem" (Entscheidungsproblem). In problems of non-computable complexity, a machine might never halt: this is the unexplored capacity of the human brain. • Can we build a network of living human neurons that can be programmed? Can we program that network to attempt a non-computable problem? What will that network do? • Our contention is that we can build the network, program it and introduce a non- computable problem. Our greater contention is that programming the Halting Problem will NOT result in an infinite loop. The neuronal network will detect the infinity and stop action. • The programmable neural network will have a proto-consciousness and the elements necessary for non-computable operations. • These networks will be the basis for synthetic neuronal structures of a type never seen before and a model for study of drugs, stimulation control and other research and interventions for medicine. ®The Penrose Institute 2016-17 20 EFTA00607005  Aging and Cognitive Longevity Research into neurons has several applications to aging. Neurons are one of the few cells in the body that do not age. For the most part the cells we are born with are cells we die with. Unlike many body cells which are simply recycled these cells have developed robust methods for repairing themselves. Understanding these mechanisms may yield valuable insight into the aging process. Unfortunately, the repair mechanisms which can keep cells working into our late nineties are subject to degradation and disease. San Diego has two leading Dementia Research centers for Alzheimer's. It is now thought that a major factor in these diseases is the break down in the cytoskeletal structures inside the neurons, the self same structures that Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff believe provide us with creativity, understanding and ultimately consciousness. On top of the sub-cellular repair mechanisms, our brains seem to repair themselves, or at least, protect their function if we exercise them. Brain training software appears to help brains function better and we would like to understand whether exercising the brain with non-computable / creative tasks is more beneficial than rote type learning tasks. The Penrose Institute 2016-17 21 EFTA00607006  Insights, Outcomes, Spinout Theoretical • Molecular modelling of neurons and the study of how anesthetic gases interrupt their operation. • Construction of a programmable computer synthesized from living neurons will provide insight into the operation of the human brain. Experimental • Develop safer anesthetic gases through testing and certification in the models • Find the key physical elements of a new quantum gravity computing technology • Use living networks of human neurons to serve as a means of screening medications for toxicity and their effectiveness in modifying neuronal actions. • Study pathologies of neurons: accumulation of proteins in Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease or damage from low-oxygen, such as hypoxia in strokes. • Investigate non-invasive brain stimulation methods via the eye or transcranially. Spinout / Partnership • Better enhance creativity and defend against dementia. • Pharmaceutical screening capability with the neuronal network model. • Contributions to computational science, including management of non- computability and new computing architectures, will be seen with the living neuron computers. ®The Penrose Institute 2016-17 22 EFTA00607007  Quantum Consciousness (Ibbullin) (Learning and Testing) (Collaboration) (Quantum Gravity) , (Understanding) ./ (Non-computability) (Micro lbbules o' oe .. .... (Non-computable Processes)„ ,./ ............. (Creativity) (G ene Expression) (Cytoskeleton) oe (synapses) ..........(Neuronal Modelling) (Conscioussnes Brains (Free .... (Transport (Conectome) (Anthropic Principle 1 (Our Place in the Cosmos) , (Quantum Mechanics Improvement) (Cosmological lining) (Protein Synthesis) (Proteins) water g3 The Penrose Institute 2016-17 23 EFTA00607008  O The Penrose Institute 2016-17 III New Physics and The Origin of Our Universe 0 7 think nature's imagination is so much greater than man's, she's never going to let us relax"— Richard Feynman 24 EFTA00607009  Research at the interface of quantum theory and general relativity Quantum gravity 444. Quantum simulations Cosmology Quantum information 7. Quantum Quantum metrology Theory and sensors General Quantum thermodynamics Relativity Quantum biology Quantum gravity Sensors e the Penrose Institute 2016-17 EFTA00607010  Physics at the overlap of quantum information and relativity Research at the overlap of quantum physics and information theory has given rise to the field of quantum information and its applications included quantum computation, cryptography and communication. This has lead to a deeper understanding of the role of information in the physical world and to a new technological era. However, the world is not only quantum but also relativistic. Only recently, the use of relativity in quantum technologies has been considered and it has been shown that quantum systems can be used to measure gravitational effects. It is very likely that this body of work will play a role in our understanding of the physics of the brain. Penrose's work has already hinted at the key role that gravity might play in quantum physics and therefore, in our understanding of nature from neurons to cosmology. ®The Penrose Institute 2016-17 28 EFTA00607011  Quantum Gravity Sensors • Quantum systems, such as BECs, can be used to test the effects of gravity on the collapse of the wavefunction. • BECs can also be used to measure gravitational effects such as gravitational waves, space-time parameters and perhaps dark energy and dark matter. • Applications: quantum sensors, clocks and gravimeters compatible with notions in general relativity. The Penrose Institute 2016-17 27 EFTA00607012  Desktop Gravitational Wave Detector We are rapidly moving from a situation where Quantum Gravity effects are the realm of big- science, CERN, LIGO et. al. to a state where sensitive, innovative laboratory experiments can discover interactions and throw light on different QG theories. • Quantum experiments are reaching relativistic regimes in space-based settings, fast moving boundary conditions and their interactions with quantum fields and in extremely precise measurement technologies and clocks. However, our understanding of physics at these regimes is very limited. • Cutting edge experiments promise to deepen our understanding of quantum physics at the regimes where relativity can no longer be neglected also serving as testing grounds for Penrose's theories. Time dilation measured by quantum clocks separated by a few cm. Such clocks keep time to within 1 second in about 3.7 billion years. (Wineland) Quantum state transmission across thousands of km using satellites. At this Quantum fields interacting with regimes relativity kicks in. boundaries moving at a third of the speed of light. (Delsing. Wilson) (Zeilinger. Villoresi. Marquardt. et. al.) The Penrose Institute 2016-17 28 EFTA00607013  Quantum-Gravitational Telescope BECs, Bose-Einstein Condensate r sensors, the size of a silicon chip and highly sensitive to gravitational geometry and waves. r• ook Down with a BEC sensor Image the Earths gravitational fiel • Use many to resolve feat Detect gravitational anoma with a BEC sensor mage the sky with gravity Make a gravity map of sp e See before the Universe s • • Oil reserves optically transparent 3 • Map Earth's mantle years old. - • Fault lines • See gravitational events • Fault movement • Neuron star Mergers • Ocean floor movement • Black hole mergers • Volcanic uplift K, The Penrose Institute 2016-17 EFTA00607014  Deep Space Gravitational Image What might we see in the gravitational 'spectrum' Cosmic -* Gravitati 4 ..Mtrging „Neutron Background, - V Stars . .' ., . #. . . . • `Gravitational , (*) • ) isobars-, MerginigiBlack, holes • • , . _ , Gravitational • .• $, Voids Gravitational F Lense§* Dark Matter • Anomqlies Artist impression based on Hubble eXtreme Deep Field, NASA. ESA. G. Illingworth, D. Magee:and P. Desch (Universit3406f California. Santa Cruz). II R. Bouwens (Leiden University), and the HUDF09 Team EFTA00607015  Cosmology In 2000, Nature asked 10 prominent physicists for their view of a `Theory of Everything'. Among them, only Roger Penrose included a role for consciousness in the universe. Singularity (r = 0) Problems in Scope 2017 • Unification of QG • Twistor Theory • Conformal Cyclic Cosmology • Dark Matter and Energy g 4 • Background Independent Quantum Mechanics Space • Non-causal Physics & Computing • Computational Universe ft' • Conservation of Information • Testing OR collapse by E=hlt • Arrows of time Conformal Allactuneni • Low Entropy Origin mse Institute 2016-17 91 EFTA00607016  fork Ages Development of Galaxies, Planets, etc. Origin Questions Cyclic Future? 1st Stars about 400 million yrs. Big Bang Expansion I 13.7 billion years Non-Computability, Entropy, Arrow of Time Measurement decision criterion. Why is one measurement outcome favored over another? Or, if you believe in the many worlds interpretation, why do we find ourselves in one Universe branch rather than another? Maximize Kolmogorov Complexity - Understanding criterion Maximize platonic beauty - Elegance criterion ®The Penrose Institute 2016-17 32 EFTA00607017  Insights, Outcomes, Spinout Theoretical • Make progress on unification quantum gravity and general relativity • Develop insight into the implications of non-computability on the evolution of our Universe and the arrow or time. • Understand how the brain might utilize quantum gravity effects. Experimental • Build a quantum gravity interferometer using a Bose-Einstein condensate. • Investigate patterns in the cosmic microwave background radiation. Spinout / Partnerships • If it can be demonstrated that quantum gravity is implicated in consciousness then new forms of quantum gravity computers should exist and it would be possible to build one. • Bose-Einstein condensate sensors would be the most sensitive sensor know to man. The last time we developed a new sensor of this sort - the superconducting quantum interferometer — it has application in a broad range of fields. ®The Penrose Institute 2016-17 33 EFTA00607018  Mathematical Play "We have a closed circle of consistency here: the laws of physics produce complex systems, and these complex systems lead to consciousness, which then produces mathematics, which can then encode in a succinct and inspiring way the very underlying laws of physics that gave rise to it. — Roger Penrose (The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe) Penrose Tiles at the Mathematics Institute, Oxford EFTA00607019  Inspirational Mathematics Illusions Impossible Shapes Sliptobsy •• • 01 6 & N C O ! , AI / HI Puzzles Art Inspiration Infographics ®The Penrose Institute 2016-17 EFTA00607020  A New Turing Crossword Puzzle If you can solve this puzzle in under six minutes, science needs you! WIN A TRIP TO LONDON 6- 75 DO YOU NAVE WHAT IT TAXES TO CRACK THE CODE? tOMPLC7I1.1•41, V40015•CM./.0•0 P.M/ ••••• t••rt•t •- *Ili a ...• •_• •••,. ••Co• 9 6. kid, z,L,Lt_ sive Telmappli h cekbraie.ltitbran 7 4 3 5 732 the Daily /telegraph 7 2 Greek crisis ignites as banks shut 4 I? 9 7 3 5 6- Ann oaock. we c-em lint kcal:Timbal list EAT • AT aunt-mn: non I hrlighl l ot bruins ATE • A LAWR • LOW PAN • PILLOW CARP= ME .-- - •-• ETAS we an acme.. fa am*. I l'" ®The Penrose Institute 2016-17 EFTA00607021  The P.rase In.tute N1,17 Institute Plan EFTA00607022  Team James Tagg Erik Viirre New Physics Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS Stuart Hameroff, Corporate Affairs ®The Penrose Institute 2016-17 38 EFTA00607023  Vision To understand the human mind and its place in the cosmos inspired by the scientific philosophy of Roger Penrose and to use this understanding to the benefit of all. IZI, The Penrose Institute 2016-17 39 EFTA00607024  Our Collaborative Approach The World Wide Web was developed as a way to bring researchers together working on large-scale complex problems at CERN. We believe new technologies such as virtual reality and collaborative communications tools can usher in new and more efficient ways of bringing researchers together. It will be an objective of the Institute to experiment with these technologies and innovate in the realm of collaboration. This will involve us building physical and virtual col