Parr, T;
Da Costa, L;
Friston, K;
(2020)
Markov blankets, information geometry and stochastic thermodynamics.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
, 378
(2164)
, Article 20190159. 10.1098/rsta.2019.0159.
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Abstract
This paper considers the relationship between thermodynamics, information and inference. In particular, it explores the thermodynamic concomitants of belief updating, under a variational (free energy) principle for self-organization. In brief, any (weakly mixing) random dynamical system that possesses a Markov blanket-i.e. a separation of internal and external states-is equipped with an information geometry. This means that internal states parametrize a probability density over external states. Furthermore, at non-equilibrium steady-state, the flow of internal states can be construed as a gradient flow on a quantity known in statistics as Bayesian model evidence. In short, there is a natural Bayesian mechanics for any system that possesses a Markov blanket. Crucially, this means that there is an explicit link between the inference performed by internal states and their energetics-as characterized by their stochastic thermodynamics. This article is part of the theme issue 'Harmonizing energy-autonomous computing and intelligence'.
Type: | Article |
---|---|
Title: | Markov blankets, information geometry and stochastic thermodynamics |
Location: | England |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
DOI: | 10.1098/rsta.2019.0159 |
Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0159 |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
Keywords: | Bayesian, Markov blanket, information geometry, thermodynamics, variational inference |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Imaging Neuroscience |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10088607 |
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