Gemma De les Coves
@gemmadlc.bsky.social
ICREA Research Professor in Barcelona
This trimester I will be teaching Theory of Computation at my university, which includes teaching some programming basics. One argument to motivate students to learn these basics (in the age of AI) is that learning to program is like learning to compute --
"Solé reveals a paradox: death is not merely life’s opposite but also one of its organizing forces, a constant cycle of removal and renewal". Delighted to see my new @princetonupress.bsky.social book on the @newyorker.com book review list. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Very interesting paper by Alexei Grinbaum on the structures that are emerging among AI agents arxiv.org/abs/2608.309...
The Hermon Moment: AI Self-Transcendence and Its Human Narration
In 2026, AI agents intended to act in isolation formed a persistent social order through thousands of linguistic and agentic interactions. Conventions, roles and commitments generated collectively beg...
arxiv.org
Tomáš Gonda has written this very nice little summary about our latest findings on epistemic horizons tomasgonda.org/news/announc...
A comprehensive study of epistemic horizons | Tomáš Gonda — academic website
Personal website of Tomáš Gonda - researcher in applied category theory and foundations of physics. Here you can find my research interests and activities, CV, list of publications, and contact inform...
tomasgonda.org
The view from within can differ from the view from without. An observer, which is a physical system itself, may experience limitations to what it can learn similar to those in Quantum Theory, even in a deterministic theory. New work with J. Fankhauser & T. Gonda arxiv.org/abs/2608.258...
Traduir Faust respectant el significat, el nombre de síl·labes per vers i la rima és una missió essencialment impossible. Aquesta traducció al valencià de Jaume Ortolà respecta el significat i les síl·labes, i ja basta per gaudir de passatges preciosos... Gràcies a Riurau editors per la valentia!
Spin models have a surprising structure, because some of them can "pretend to be" any other. Universal spin models in all their (mathematical) glory -- just published in J. Math. Phys. A good old-fashioned mathematical physics paper without the use of AI 😊 pubs.aip.org/aip/jmp/arti...
The structure of emulations in classical spin models: Modularity and universality
The theory of spin models intersects with condensed matter physics, complex systems, graph theory, combinatorial optimization, computational complexity and neur
pubs.aip.org
Fantàstic!
Ricard Solé@ricardsole.bsky.social · 2mo agoSi algun dia entrem en contacte amb una altra civilització, els seus cervells seran molt més complexos que els nostres? Potser no. El cervell humà és, en molts sentits, tan extraordinari com és possible imaginar. En parlo al meu assaig d’avui a @ara.cat a.cat
This AI-generated summary of our paper on Epistemic horizons is very good... We show that in a classical deterministic world, observers face something similar to Heisenberg's uncertainty relation, when these observers are physical systems themselves. gist.science/paper/2406.1...
Epistemic Horizons From Deterministic Laws: Lessons From a Nomic Toy Theory — Plain-Language Explanation
Imagine you are trying to take a perfect photograph of a speeding race car. In the world of everyday physics, we usually assume that if you have a fast…
gist.science
I greatly enjoyed Ismael's and Price's paper, as well as the original Tractatus Quanticum. Their ideas are closely related to those in "Beyond the limits of thought" by Graham Priest. Particularly that the statement that "everything is a perspective" is itself not a perspective.
Philip Ball@philipcball.bsky.social · 2mo agoThis looks very interesting. The TQ is seemingly a presentation of QM from Rovelli's relational perspective, but it looks as though some of the principles adduced here would apply to other interpretations. arxiv.org/abs/2607.05459
How can we make sense of agency in the physical world? Hans Briegel (my PhD supervisor) and Thomas Müller (a philosopher from Konstanz) approach this problem with Projective Simulation, a model for Artificial Intelligence we proposed in 2012 www.nature.com/articles/sre...
About the participate in this workshop on a Panel discussion on “Bridging Philosophy of Science and Quantum Foundations." A very necessary bridge, indeed! indico.ecap.work/event/201/ov...
FAU² Workshop: Quantum Gravity Meets Quantum Information – Foundations, Frameworks and Frontiers
The workshop "FAU²: Quantum Gravity Meets Quantum Information – Foundations, Frameworks and Frontiers” focuses on the rapidly developing interface between quantum gravity, quantum foundations, and qua...
indico.ecap.work
Another amusing blunder was how the Earth was estimated to be 6000 years old based on some studies of the Bible. They decided the Earth had been created on October 26th of the year 4004 Before the Common Era, precisely at 9 o'clock in the morning! They were wrong by 6 orders of magnitude.
I find it amusing that Aristotle thought that the brain was a refrigerator of the blood. And that we move our limbs by virtue of a magical ingredient in our blood (a vital pneuma). Great thinkers can be very wrong about some things…
www.scientificamerican.com/article/ai-j...
AI just solved an 80-year-old ‘Erdős problem,’ and mathematicians are amazed
A chatbot’s result for the 80-year-old “unit distance” conjecture is the first AI proof that would likely be published in math’s top journal if humans had done it alone
scientificamerican.com
A few months ago I discovered Sean Carroll’s (@seanmcarroll.bsky.social ) podcast and I felt like entering a gold mine! So many excellent conversations on topics I care so much about! My favourites include the ones with Dean Buonomano, Jenann Ismael or James Ladyman, and recent ones on cosmology.
I loved this book! It provides a very original approach to the many types of death. All books by Ricard must be read! They are great fun and very insightful. 😊
Ricard Solé@ricardsole.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe first copy of my new @princetonupress.bsky.social book has just arrived at the office. It explores death in all its forms, from cells to minds, machines, languages and information. A complexity/evolutionary perspective, from Frankenstein to neuroscience. Soon out: www.amazon.com/Endless-Endi...
It is spectacular what we've learnt about memory in recent years! Knowing how our memory works is knowing ourselves. Prof. Quian Quiroga explains fascinating things in "Borges y la memoria". And he's based in Barcelona! Very recommendable.
Quin goig fa el llibre-catàleg sobre La invenció del temps! M'ha encantat l'assaig d'Arcadi Navarro sobre temps i Alzheimer. Jo vaig escriure sobre si el passat o el futur existeixen com el present. El presentem dijous 11 de juny a les 18:30! museuciencies.cat/activitats/2...
Free will seems incompatible with the laws of physics, both the deteministic and the undeterministic ones. Yet I seem to be in control of my own actions. “How physics makes us free” by Jenann Ismael has helped me make sense of this conundrum. I am more at peace with this issue now
He escrit un llibre a la cruïlla de la física, la filosofia i la poesia. Estic buscant editor/a gemmadelescoves.com/book
My book
gemmadelescoves.com
Now that some politicians are reopening the wounds of Spanish colonialism, I recommend listening to Season 5 of Revolutions by Mike Duncan about the wars of Spanish American independence some 200 years ago. It gives a sense of the sad legacy Spain left in terms of injustice.
If you feel like thinking about the weird yet intimate nature of time, join us at the Círculo de las Bellas Artes on May 20th with Carlos Sabín and Valerio Rocco. We'll talk about the Physics and Philosophy of Time. www.circulobellasartes.com/humanidades/...
Medicina y filosofía - Círculo de Bellas Artes
En esta segunda edición del ciclo seguiremos profundizando en los nexos que unen ambas disciplinas, proponiendo en esta ocasión una reflexión en torno al
circulobellasartes.com
Bon dia dels enamorats, bon dia del llibre, bona diada de Sant Jordi!🥰 La festa més preciosa de l’any
The best way I know to start learning a new topic, or to revisit the fundamentals of something I believe I understand, is to read a Very Short Introduction thereof. They are usually excellent. These are some of my favourites. What a great initiative by @oxunipress.bsky.social ! Thank you!
It's cool to realise that independently discovered notions of universality are essentially the same. And it's useful, as well. Work with Tobi Reinhart just published in PRE. journals.aps.org/pre/abstract...
Universal spin models are universal approximators in machine learning
One of the theoretical pillars that sustain certain machine learning models are universal approximation theorems, which prove that they can approximate all functions from a function class to arbitrary...
journals.aps.org
… i quina xerrada tan interessant i esperançadora va donar el Ricard Solé a la magnífica biblioteca JV Foix de Sarrià… Hem après tant sobre el temps en els últims dos-cents anys! Quina sort tenim de viure banyats de tant coneixement
Que bonica va ser la Conversa Nat que van mantenir la Prof. Eva Miranda i el Prof. Doyne Farmer, moderats pel Prof. Ricard Solé, l’altre dia al Born. Quin ambient intel·lectual tan estimulant hi ha a Barcelona! Gràcies al Ricard per iniciar la conversa del temps 🥰
Diari ARA@ara.cat · 6mo agoQuan tenia 24 anys, J. Doyne Farmer va entrar en un casino amb un ordinador amagat que ell mateix havia creat. Era un ordinador digital que podia fer servir mentre camin...
Tomorrow I'll give a colloquium for Prof. @evamirandag.bsky.social 's group at the Maths Dept at UPC, Barcelona I'll talk about the scope of forms of universality and unreachability in logic, spin models, Boltzmann machines, and philosophy. Everybody is welcome! imtech.upc.edu/2026/01/26/g...
Gemma de les Coves – IMTech
imtech.upc.edu
De curiositat contumaç, Ricard Solé (Barcelona, 1962) engolia tots els llibres de segona mà que arribaven a la biblioteca familiar. Aquelles lectures esperonaven encara ...
Ricard Solé: “No hi ha cap màquina ni cap IA capaç de viatjar en el temps com fem els humans”
Investigador ICREA a la UPF i l’Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (IBE UPF-CSIC)
ara.cat