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Evolution in Materio

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Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science

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Definition of the Subject

Evolution in materio refers to the use of computers running search algorithms, called evolutionary algorithms, to find the values of variables that should be applied to material systems so that they carry out useful computation. Examples of such variables might be the location and magnitude of voltages that need to be applied to a particular physical system. Evolution in materio is a methodology for programming materials that utilizes physical effects that the human programmer need not be aware of. It is a general methodology for obtaining analog computation that is specific to the desired problem domain. Although a form of this methodology was hinted at in the work of Gordon Pask in the 1950s, it was not convincingly demonstrated until 1996 by Adrian Thompson, who showed that physical properties of a digital chip could be exploited by computer-controlled evolution. This entry describes the first demonstration that such a method can be used to obtain specific...

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Abbreviations

Evolution in materio:

The method of applying computer-controlled evolution to manipulate or configure a physical system.

Evolutionary algorithm:

A computer algorithm loosely inspired by Darwinian evolution.

Generate-and-test:

The process of generating a potential solution to a computational problem and testing it to see how good a solution it is. The idea behind it is that no human ingenuity is employed to make good solutions more likely.

Genotype:

A string of information that encodes a potential solution instance of a problem and allows its suitability to be assessed.

Liquid crystal:

Substances that have properties between those of a liquid and a crystal.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Memorial University, St. John’s, Canada

    Simon Harding

  2. Department of Electronics, University of York, Heslington, UK

    Julian F. Miller jfm@ohm.york.ac.uk

Authors
  1. Simon Harding
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  2. Julian F. Miller jfm@ohm.york.ac.uk
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simon Harding .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ramtech Ltd., Larkspur, California, USA

    Robert A. Meyers

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Harding, S., Miller, J.F. (2013). Evolution in Materio. In: Meyers, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27737-5_190-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27737-5_190-3

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