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Articles 1 - 30 of 105
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Finitely Generated Sets Of Fuzzy Values: If "And" Is Exact, Then "Or" Is Almost Always Approximate, And Vice Versa -- A Theorem, Julio Urenda, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Finitely Generated Sets Of Fuzzy Values: If "And" Is Exact, Then "Or" Is Almost Always Approximate, And Vice Versa -- A Theorem, Julio Urenda, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
In the traditional fuzzy logic, experts' degrees of confidence are described by numbers from the interval [0,1]. Clearly, not all the numbers from this interval are needed: in the whole history of the Universe, there will be only countably many statements and thus, only countably many possible degree, while the interval [0,1] is uncountable. It is therefore interesting to analyze what is the set S of actually used values. The answer depends on the choice of "and"-operations (t-norms) and "or"-operations (t-conorms). For the simplest pair of min and max, any finite set will do -- as long as it is …
Fuzzy Logic Explains The Usual Choice Of Logical Operations In 2-Valued Logic, Julio Urenda, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Fuzzy Logic Explains The Usual Choice Of Logical Operations In 2-Valued Logic, Julio Urenda, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
In the usual 2-valued logic, from the purely mathematical viewpoint, there are many possible binary operations. However, in commonsense reasoning, we only use a few of them: why? In this paper, we show that fuzzy logic can explain the usual choice of logical operations in 2-valued logic.
Joule's 19th Century Energy Conservation Meta-Law And The 20th Century Physics (Quantum Mechanics And General Relativity): 21st Century Analysis, Vladik Kreinovich, Olga Kosheleva
Joule's 19th Century Energy Conservation Meta-Law And The 20th Century Physics (Quantum Mechanics And General Relativity): 21st Century Analysis, Vladik Kreinovich, Olga Kosheleva
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
Joule's Energy Conservation Law was the first "meta-law": a general principle that all physical equations must satisfy. It has led to many important and useful physical discoveries. However, a recent analysis seems to indicate that this meta-law is inconsistent with other principles -- such as the existence of free will. We show that this conclusion about inconsistency is based on a seemingly reasonable -- but simplified -- analysis of the situation. We also show that a more detailed mathematical and physical analysis of the situation reveals that not only Joule's principle remains true -- it is actually strengthened: it is …
Which Distributions (Or Families Of Distributions) Best Represent Interval Uncertainty: Case Of Permutation-Invariant Criteria, Michael Beer, Julio Urenda, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Which Distributions (Or Families Of Distributions) Best Represent Interval Uncertainty: Case Of Permutation-Invariant Criteria, Michael Beer, Julio Urenda, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
In many practical situations, we only know the interval containing the quantity of interest, we have no information about the probability of different values within this interval. In contrast to the cases when we know the distributions and can thus use Monte-Carlo simulations, processing such interval uncertainty is difficult -- crudely speaking, because we need to try all possible distributions on this interval. Sometimes, the problem can be simplified: namely, it is possible to select a single distribution (or a small family of distributions) whose analysis provides a good understanding of the situation. The most known case is when we …
Why Gamma Distribution Of Seismic Inter-Event Times: A Theoretical Explanation, Laxman Bokati, Aaron A. Velasco, Vladik Kreinovich
Why Gamma Distribution Of Seismic Inter-Event Times: A Theoretical Explanation, Laxman Bokati, Aaron A. Velasco, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
It is known that the distribution of seismic inter-event times is well described by the Gamma distribution. Recently, this fact has been used to successfully predict major seismic events. In this paper, we explain that the Gamma distribution of seismic inter-event times can be naturally derived from the first principles.
Why Spiking Neural Networks Are Efficient: A Theorem, Michael Beer, Julio Urenda, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Why Spiking Neural Networks Are Efficient: A Theorem, Michael Beer, Julio Urenda, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
Current artificial neural networks are very successful in many machine learning applications, but in some cases they still lag behind human abilities. To improve their performance, a natural idea is to simulate features of biological neurons which are not yet implemented in machine learning. One of such features is the fact that in biological neural networks, signals are represented by a train of spikes. Researchers have tried adding this spikiness to machine learning and indeed got very good results, especially when processing time series (and, more generally, spatio-temporal data). In this paper, we provide a theoretical explanation for this empirical …
Deep Learning (Partly) Demystified, Vladik Kreinovich, Olga Kosheleva
Deep Learning (Partly) Demystified, Vladik Kreinovich, Olga Kosheleva
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
Successes of deep learning are partly due to appropriate selection of activation function, pooling functions, etc. Most of these choices have been made based on empirical comparison and heuristic ideas. In this paper, we show that many of these choices -- and the surprising success of deep learning in the first place -- can be explained by reasonably simple and natural mathematics.
How Can We Explain Different Number Systems?, Laxman Bokati, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
How Can We Explain Different Number Systems?, Laxman Bokati, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
At present, we mostly use decimal (base-10) number system, but in the past, many other systems were used: base-20, base-60 -- which is still reflected in how we divide an hour into minutes and a minute into seconds -- and many others. There is a known explanation for the base-60 system: 60 is the smallest number that can be divided by 2, by 3, by 4, by 5, and by 6. Because of this, e.g., half an hour, one-third of an hour, all the way to one-sixth of an hour all correspond to a whole number of minutes. In this …
How To Reconcile Randomness With Physicists' Belief That Every Theory Is Approximate: Informal Knowledge Is Needed, Ricardo Alvarez, Nick Sims, Christian Servin, Martine Ceberio, Vladik Kreinovich
How To Reconcile Randomness With Physicists' Belief That Every Theory Is Approximate: Informal Knowledge Is Needed, Ricardo Alvarez, Nick Sims, Christian Servin, Martine Ceberio, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
In this paper, we show that physicists' intuition about randomness is not fully consistent with their belief that every theory is only approximate. We also prove that there is no formal way to reconcile these two intuitions, this reconciliation has to be informal. Thus, there are fundamental reasons why informal knowledge is needed for describing the real world.
Why A Classification Based On Linear Approximation To Dynamical Systems Often Works Well In Nonlinear Cases, Julio Urenda, Vladik Kreinovich
Why A Classification Based On Linear Approximation To Dynamical Systems Often Works Well In Nonlinear Cases, Julio Urenda, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
It can be proven that linear dynamical systems exhibit either stable behavior, or unstable behavior, or oscillatory behavior, or transitional behavior. Interesting, the same classification often applies to nonlinear dynamical systems as well. In this paper, we provide a possible explanation for this phenomenon, i.e., we explain why a classification based on linear approximation to dynamical systems often works well in nonlinear cases.
How User Ratings Change With Time: Theoretical Explanation Of An Empirical Formula, Julio Urenda, Manuel Hernandez, Natalia Villanueva Rosales, Vladik Kreinovich
How User Ratings Change With Time: Theoretical Explanation Of An Empirical Formula, Julio Urenda, Manuel Hernandez, Natalia Villanueva Rosales, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
In many application areas, it is important to predict the user's reaction to new products. In general, this reaction changes with time. Empirical analysis of this dependence has shown that it can be reasonably accurately described by a power law. In this paper, we provide a theoretical explanation for this empirical formula.
How To Assign Grades To Tasks So As To Maximize Student Efforts, Laxman Bokati, Vyacheslav Kalashnikov, Nataliya Kalashnykova, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
How To Assign Grades To Tasks So As To Maximize Student Efforts, Laxman Bokati, Vyacheslav Kalashnikov, Nataliya Kalashnykova, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
In some classes, students want to get a desired passing grade (e.g., C or B) by spending the smallest amount of effort. In such situations, it is reasonable for the instructor to assign the grades for different tasks in such a way that the resulting overall student's effort is the largest possible. In this paper, we show that to achieve this goal, we need to assign, to each task, the number of points proportional to the efforts needed for this task.
Epicycles Are Almost As Good As Trigonometric Series: General System-Based Analysis, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Epicycles Are Almost As Good As Trigonometric Series: General System-Based Analysis, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
To adequately describe the planets' motion, ancient astronomers used epicycles, when a planet makes a circular motion not around the Earth, but around a special auxiliary point which, in turn, performs a circular motion around the Earth -- or around a second auxiliary point which, in turns, rotates around the Earth, etc. Standard textbooks malign this approach by calling it bad science, but in reality, this is, in effect, trigonometric (Fourier) series -- an extremely useful tool in science and engineering. It should be mentioned, however, that the epicycles are almost as good as trigonometric series -- in the sense …
Why Filtering Out Higher Harmonics Makes It Easier To Carry A Tune, Griselda Acosta, Eric Freudenthal, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
Why Filtering Out Higher Harmonics Makes It Easier To Carry A Tune, Griselda Acosta, Eric Freudenthal, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
A recent patent shows that filtering out higher harmonics helps people sing in-tune. In this paper, we use the general signal processing ideas to explain this empirical phenomenon. We also show that filtering out higher harmonics is the optimal way of increasing the signal-to-noise ratio -- and thus, of making it easier for people to recognize when they are signing out of tune.
If Space-Time Is Discrete, We May Be Able To Solve Np-Hard Problems In Polynomial Time, Ricardo Alvarez, Nick Sims, Christian Servin, Martine Ceberio, Vladik Kreinovich
If Space-Time Is Discrete, We May Be Able To Solve Np-Hard Problems In Polynomial Time, Ricardo Alvarez, Nick Sims, Christian Servin, Martine Ceberio, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
Traditional physics assumes that space and time are continuous. However, this reasonable model leads to some serious problems. One the approaches that physicists follow to solve these problems is to assume that the space-time is actually discrete. In this paper, we analyze possible computational consequences of this discreteness. It turns out that in a discrete space-time, we may be able to solve NP-hard problems in polynomial time.
Geometric Explanation For An Empirical Formula Describing Our Galaxy's Warping, Julio Urenda, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Geometric Explanation For An Empirical Formula Describing Our Galaxy's Warping, Julio Urenda, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
In the first approximation, the shape of our Galaxy -- as well as the shape of many other celestial bodies -- can be naturally explained by geometric symmetries and the corresponding invariances. As a result, we get the familiar shape of a planar spiral. A recent more detailed analysis of our Galaxy's shape has shown that the Galaxy somewhat deviates from this ideal shape: namely, it is not perfectly planar, it is somewhat warped in the third dimension. In this paper, we show that the empirical formula for this warping can also be explained by geometric symmetries and invariance.
Towards A Theoretical Explanation Of How Pavement Condition Index Deteriorates Over Time, Edgar Daniel Rodriguez Velasquez, Carlos M. Chang Albitres, Vladik Kreinovich
Towards A Theoretical Explanation Of How Pavement Condition Index Deteriorates Over Time, Edgar Daniel Rodriguez Velasquez, Carlos M. Chang Albitres, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
To predict how the Pavement Condition Index will change over time, practitioners use a complex empirical formula derived in the 1980s. In this paper, we provide a possible theoretical explanation for this formula, an explanation based on general ideas of invariance. In general, the existence of a theoretical explanation makes a formula more reliable; thus, we hope that our explanation will make predictions of road quality more reliable.
80/20 Rule Partially Explains 7 Plus Minus 2 Law: General System-Based Analysis, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
80/20 Rule Partially Explains 7 Plus Minus 2 Law: General System-Based Analysis, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
The 80/20 rule and the 7 plus minus 2 law are examples of difficult to explain empirical facts. According to the 80/20 rule, in each activity, 20% of the people contribute to the 80% of the results. The 7 plus minus 2 law means that we divide objects into 7 plus minus 2 groups -- i.e., into 5 to 9 groups. In this paper, we show that there is a relation between these two facts: namely, we show that, because of the 80/20 rule, the number of classes cannot be smaller than 5. Thus, the 80/20 rule explains the lower …
Why Area Under The Curve In Hypothesis Testing?, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
Why Area Under The Curve In Hypothesis Testing?, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
To compare two different hypothesis testing techniques, researchers use the following heuristic idea: for each technique, they form a curve describing how the probabilities of type I and type II errors are related for this technique, and then compare areas under the resulting curves. In this paper, we provide a justification for this heuristic idea.
Confirmation Bias In Systems Engineering: A Pedagogical Example, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
Confirmation Bias In Systems Engineering: A Pedagogical Example, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
One of the biases potentially affecting systems engineers is the confirmation bias, when instead of selecting the best hypothesis based on the data, people stick to the previously-selected hypothesis until it is disproved. In this paper, on a simple example, we show how important is to take care of this bias: namely, that because of this bias, we need twice as many experiments to switch to a better hypothesis.
How To Explain That Changes In Elderlies Depression Level Are Uniformly Distributed, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
How To Explain That Changes In Elderlies Depression Level Are Uniformly Distributed, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
Changes in the elderlies depression level result from a large number of small independent factors. Such situations are ubiquitous in applications. In most such cases, due to the Central Limit Theorem, the corresponding distribution is close to Gaussian. For the changes in the elderlies depression level, however, the empirical distribution is far from Gaussian: it is uniform. In this paper, we provide a possible explanation for the emergence of the uniform distribution.
Status Quo Bias Actually Helps Decision Makers To Take Nonlinearity Into Account: An Explanation, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
Status Quo Bias Actually Helps Decision Makers To Take Nonlinearity Into Account: An Explanation, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
One of the main motivations for designing computer models of complex systems is to come up with recommendations on how to best control these systems. Many complex real-life systems are so complicated that it is not computationally possible to use realistic nonlinear models to find the corresponding optimal control. Instead, researchers make recommendations based on simplified -- e.g., linearized -- models. The recommendations based on these simplified models are often not realistic but, interestingly, they can be made more realistic if we "tone them down" -- i.e., consider predictions and recommendations which are close to the current status quo state. …
Smaller Standard Deviation For Initial Weights Improves Performance Of Classifying Neural Networks: A Theoretical Explanation Of Unexpected Simulation Results, Diego Aguirre, Philip Hassoun, Rafael Lopez, Crystal Serrano, Marcoantonio R. Soto, Andrea Torres, Vladik Kreinovich
Smaller Standard Deviation For Initial Weights Improves Performance Of Classifying Neural Networks: A Theoretical Explanation Of Unexpected Simulation Results, Diego Aguirre, Philip Hassoun, Rafael Lopez, Crystal Serrano, Marcoantonio R. Soto, Andrea Torres, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
Numerical experiments show that for classifying neural networks, it is beneficial to select a smaller deviation for initial weights that what is usually recommended. In this paper, we provide a theoretical explanation for these unexpected simulation results.
How To Make Decisions: Consider Multiple Scenarios, Consult Experts, Play Down Emotions -- Quantitative Explanation Of Commonsense Ideas, Julio Urenda, Francis Biney, Marco Cardiel, Perla De La O, Anthony Desarmier, Noa Dodson, Taylor Dodson, Sebastian Gonzalez, Laura Hinojos, Jorge Huerta, Ryan Jones, Oliver Martinez, Carlos A. Saldaña Matamoros, Manuel Muñoz, Vladik Kreinovich
How To Make Decisions: Consider Multiple Scenarios, Consult Experts, Play Down Emotions -- Quantitative Explanation Of Commonsense Ideas, Julio Urenda, Francis Biney, Marco Cardiel, Perla De La O, Anthony Desarmier, Noa Dodson, Taylor Dodson, Sebastian Gonzalez, Laura Hinojos, Jorge Huerta, Ryan Jones, Oliver Martinez, Carlos A. Saldaña Matamoros, Manuel Muñoz, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
There are a lot of commonsense advices in decision making: e.g., we should consider multiple scenarios, we should consult experts, we should play down emotions. Many of these advices come supported by a surprisingly consistent quantitative evidence. In this paper, on the example of the above advices, we provide a theoretical explanations for these quantitative facts.
Avoiding Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (Epr) Paradox: Towards A More Physically Adequate Description Of A Quantum State, Joseph Bernal, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Avoiding Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (Epr) Paradox: Towards A More Physically Adequate Description Of A Quantum State, Joseph Bernal, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
The famous EPR paradox shows that if we describe quantum particles in the usual way -- by their wave functions -- then we get the following seeming contradiction. If we entangle the states of the two particles, then move them far away from each other, and measure the state of the first particle, then the state of the second particle immediately changes -- which contradicts to special relativity, according to which such immediate-action-at-a-distance is not possible. It is known that, from the physical viewpoint, this is not a real paradox: if we measure any property of the second particle, the …
A Natural Explanation For The Minimum Entropy Production Principle, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
A Natural Explanation For The Minimum Entropy Production Principle, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
It is well known that, according to the second law of thermodynamics, the entropy of a closed system increases (or at least stays the same). In many situations, this increase is the smallest possible. The corresponding minimum entropy production principle was first formulated and explained by a future Nobelist Ilya Prigogine. Since then, many possible explanations of this principle appeared, but all of them are very technical, based on complex analysis of differential equations describing the system's dynamics. Since this phenomenon is ubiquitous for many systems, it is desirable to look for a general system-based explanation, explanation that would not …
Egyptian Fractions Re-Revisited, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich, Francisco Zapata
Egyptian Fractions Re-Revisited, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich, Francisco Zapata
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
Ancient Egyptians represented each fraction as a sum of unit fractions, i.e., fractions of the type 1/n. In our previous papers, we explained that this representation makes perfect sense: e.g., it leads to an efficient way of dividing loaves of bread between people. However, one thing remained unclear: why, when representing fractions of the type 2/(2k+1), Egyptians did not use a natural representation 1/(2k+1) + 1/(2k+1), but used a much more complicated representation instead. In this paper, we show that the need for such a complicated representation can be explained if we take into account that instead of cutting a …
When Revolutions Succeed? 80/20 Rule And 7 Plus Minus 2 Law Explain The 3.5% Rule, Laxman Bokati, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
When Revolutions Succeed? 80/20 Rule And 7 Plus Minus 2 Law Explain The 3.5% Rule, Laxman Bokati, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
A statistical analysis of hundreds of successful and unsuccessful revolution attempts led historian to a very unexpected conclusion: that most attempts involving at least 3.5% of the population succeeded, while most attempts that involved a smaller portion of the population failed. In this paper, we show that this unexpected threshold can be explained based on the other two known rules of human behavior: the 80/20 rule (20% of the people drink 80% of the beer) and 7 plus minus 2 law according to which we naturally divide everything into 7 plus minus 2 classes.
Common Sense Addition Explained By Hurwicz Optimism-Pessimism Criterion, Bibek Aryal, Laxman Bokati, Karla Godinez, Shammir Ibarra, Heyi Liu, Bofei Wang, Vladik Kreinovich
Common Sense Addition Explained By Hurwicz Optimism-Pessimism Criterion, Bibek Aryal, Laxman Bokati, Karla Godinez, Shammir Ibarra, Heyi Liu, Bofei Wang, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
If we place a can of coke that weigh 0.35 kg into a car that weighs 1 ton = 1000 kg, what will be the resulting weight of the car? Mathematics says 1000.35 kg, but common sense says 1 ton. In this paper, we show that this common sense answer can be explained by the Hurwicz optimism-pessimism criterion of decision making under interval uncertainty.
Why Iq Test Scores Are Slightly Decreasing: Possible System-Based Explanation For The Reversed Flynn Effect, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
Why Iq Test Scores Are Slightly Decreasing: Possible System-Based Explanation For The Reversed Flynn Effect, Griselda Acosta, Eric Smith, Vladik Kreinovich
Departmental Technical Reports (CS)
Researchers who monitor the average intelligence of human population have reasonably recently made an unexpected observation: that after many decades in which this level was constantly growing (this is known as the Flynn effect), at present, this level has started decreasing again. In this paper, we show that this reversed Flynn effect can be, in principle, explained in general system-based terms: namely, it is similar to the fact that a control system usually overshoots before stabilizing at the desired level. A similar idea may explain another unexpected observation -- that the Universe's expansion rate, which was supposed to be decreasing, …