Complex Time:About
SFI Adaptation, Aging, Arrow of Time Research Theme (2017–2022)
With generous funding from the James S. McDonnell Foundation
Description
The SFI Adaptation, Aging, and the Arrow of Time (AAA) research theme seeks to transform our understanding of phenomena bearing on the “arrow of time” using fundamental complexity insights and tools. The concept of time pervades everything that we know about the physical and biological universe. However, adaptive phenomena cannot be trivially reduced to the simple timescale of physics and chemistry. In adaptive systems, aging is explicitly viewed as a consequence of information gain (adaptation) and information loss (entropy). This research theme will investigate both living and non-living systems, including connected subsystems that operate concurrently at different scales and rates.
Examples of key questions that this project seeks to address include:
a. What are the key mechanisms of adaptation and aging and how are they coupled? Is advanced age in one system required for adaptation of another?
b. Are there new structures that emerge to offset the gain and loss of function, such as modularity, network connectivity, redundancy, and hierarchy?
c. How do concurrent biological aging processes interact across scales of space and time, including genetic, epigenetic, cellular, organismal, and ecological systems?
d. Can we predict and control catastrophic shifts in system function, including shifts in the neural, cognitive, and behavioral correlates of age, and what are the early warning sign of these transitions?
Research Theme Structure
As shown in the figure below, each year the program is bookended at the start by a General Conference (GC), and at the end by a Core Theory (CT) Conference. Application Area (AA) meetings that take place throughout the year are organized by topical area experts. The GC explores and integrates a number of topical areas of research connected to Complex Time, while the CT seeks to consolidate data sets and tools across AAs. Each year SFI will host an Advisory Board meeting to monitor and provide feedback on the program progress. The program also has funding to support visiting scientists to SFI who might want to collaborate with SFI resident scientists and or learn more about complexity science.
