Emergent Computation in Collective Decision Making by the Crevice-Dwelling Rock Ant Temnothorax Rugatulus

从细胞内的化学反应网络到高等生物的社会结构，生物系统似乎利用分布式计算来执行无数复杂的功能。然而，在生物系统中观察到的各种组织水平上，生命如何储存、处理和传播信息的严格量化仍然是难以捉摸的。在这个项目中，pi将利用最近从复杂系统研究中开发的信息理论工具，通常应用于人工生命系统，来评估真实的生物系统如何管理分布式信息来执行集体计算任务。这项研究将为科学家提供数学和计算工具的新应用，并将为更广泛关注的问题提供重要见解，例如在蜜蜂中观察到的蜂群崩溃失调。调查结果将通过各种媒体向公众传播，作为项目负责人和合作组织外联工作的一部分。具体地说，pi专注于描述群体决策中的信息存储、处理和传播，作为理解生命系统中集体计算物理的严格案例研究。目的是解决昆虫行为中的几个突出问题，通过应用一种新的理论框架，将集体决策作为一种计算来解决蚂蚁Temnothorax rugatulus的集体巢址选择问题。为此，研究人员将对实验和模拟数据集进行两个层面的理论研究，基于主体的建模和信息理论分析，并通过实验操作来确定个体之间的信息处理机制，从而导致Temnothorax rugatulus群体的全局紧急计算。有了这个新颖的框架，pi将解决关于控制集体选择的物理学的几个重要的突出问题，包括负反馈的作用，以及在什么条件下集体胜过个人理性。这项研究将提供第一个详细的研究之一，将复杂系统中紧急计算的知识财富扩展到生物领域。这项研究将通过阐明生命如何存储、处理和传播信息，为我们了解生物计算的基本方面提供新的视角。由于在群居昆虫社会中易于操纵个体，pi将能够探测自发分布式计算所需的最小个体水平特征集。

From the level of chemical reaction networks within cells to the social structures of higher organisms, biological systems seem to take advantage of distributed computation to perform a myriad of complex functions. However, rigorous quantification of how life stores, processes and propagates information at the various levels of organization observed in biological systems has remained elusive. In this project the PIs will utilize recently developed information-theoretic tools from complex systems research, typically applied to artificial life systems, to assess how a real biological system manages distributed information to perform a collective computational task. This research will provide new applications of mathematical and computational tools for use by scientists and will provide important insights in issues of broader concern such as colony collapse disorder observed in honeybees. The results will be disseminated to the general public through a variety of media as part of the outreach efforts of the PI and Co-Is. Specifically, the PIs focus on characterizing information storage, processing, and propagation in colonial decision making as a rigorous case-study for understanding the physics of collective computation in living systems. The aim is to address several outstanding questions in insect behavior, by applying a novel theoretical framework treating collective decision making as a computation to the problem of collective nest site choice by the ant Temnothorax rugatulus. To this end, the investigators will implement a novel synthesis of two levels of theoretical investigation, agent-based modeling and information-theoretic analysis of experimental and simulated data sets, with experimental manipulation to determine the mechanisms of information processing among individuals that lead to global, emergent computation in Temnothorax rugatulus colonies. With this novel framework, the PIs will address several important outstanding questions about the physics governing collective choice, including the role of negative feedback and under what conditions collective wins over individual rationality. The research will provide one of the first detailed studies expanding the wealth of knowledge on emergent computation in complex systems to the biological realm. This study will inform our understanding of fundamental aspects of biological computation that will provide new perspectives on the physics of living systems by illuminating how life stores, processes, and propagates information. Due to the ease of manipulation of individuals within eusocial-insect societies, the PIs will be able to probe the minimal set of individual-level features necessary for spontaneous distributed computation.