Search NASA⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Caravelli, Francesco (ORCID:0000000179643030)

Publications and source records attributed to Caravelli, Francesco (ORCID:0000000179643030).

Distribution of centrality measures on undirected random networks via the cavity method

The Katz centrality of a node in a complex network is a measure of the node’s importance as far as the flow of information across the network is concerned. For ensembles of locally tree-like undirected random graphs, this observable is a random variable. Its full probability distribution is of interest but difficult to handle analytically because of its “global” character and its definition in terms of a matrix inverse. Leveraging a fast Gaussian Belief Propagation-Cavity algorithm to solve linear systems on tree-like structures, we show that i) the Katz centrality of a single instance can be computed recursively in a very fast way, and ii) the probability P ( K ) that a random node in the ensemble of undirected random graphs has centrality K satisfies a set of recursive distributional equations, which can be analytically characterized and efficiently solved using a population dynamics algorithm. We test our solution on ensembles of Erdős-Rényi and Scale Free networks in the locally tree-like regime, with excellent agreement. The analytical distribution of centrality for the configuration model conditioned on the degree of each node can be employed as a benchmark to identify nodes of empirical networks with over- and underexpressed centrality relative to a null baseline. We also provide an approximate formula based on a rank- 1 projection that works well if the network is not too sparse, and we argue that an extension of our method could be efficiently extended to tackle analytical distributions of other centrality measures such as PageRank for directed networks in a transparent and user-friendly way.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Neuromorphic overparameterisation and few-shot learning in multilayer physical neural networks

Abstract Physical neuromorphic computing, exploiting the complex dynamics of physical systems, has seen rapid advancements in sophistication and performance. Physical reservoir computing, a subset of neuromorphic computing, faces limitations due to its reliance on single systems. This constrains output dimensionality and dynamic range, limiting performance to a narrow range of tasks. Here, we engineer a suite of nanomagnetic array physical reservoirs and interconnect them in parallel and series to create a multilayer neural network architecture. The output of one reservoir is recorded, scaled and virtually fed as input to the next reservoir. This networked approach increases output dimensionality, internal dynamics and computational performance. We demonstrate that a physical neuromorphic system can achieve an overparameterised state, facilitating meta-learning on small training sets and yielding strong performance across a wide range of tasks. Our approach’s efficacy is further demonstrated through few-shot learning, where the system rapidly adapts to new tasks.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗

Ergodicity, lack thereof, and the performance of reservoir computing with memristive networks

Abstract Networks composed of nanoscale memristive components, such as nanowire and nanoparticle networks, have recently received considerable attention because of their potential use as neuromorphic devices. In this study, we explore ergodicity in memristive networks, showing that the performance on machine leaning tasks improves when these networks are tuned to operate at the edge between two global stability points. We find this lack of ergodicity is associated with the emergence of memory in the system. We measure the level of ergodicity using the Thirumalai-Mountain metric, and we show that in the absence of ergodicity, two different memristive network systems show improved performance when utilized as reservoir computers (RC). We highlight that it is also important to let the system synchronize to the input signal in order for the performance of the RC to exhibit improvements over the baseline.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Real-space observation of ergodicity transitions in artificial spin ice

Abstract Ever since its introduction by Ludwig Boltzmann, the ergodic hypothesis became a cornerstone analytical concept of equilibrium thermodynamics and complex dynamic processes. Examples of its relevance range from modeling decision-making processes in brain science to economic predictions. In condensed matter physics, ergodicity remains a concept largely investigated via theoretical and computational models. Here, we demonstrate the direct real-space observation of ergodicity transitions in a vertex-frustrated artificial spin ice. Using synchrotron-based photoemission electron microscopy we record thermally-driven moment fluctuations as a function of temperature, allowing us to directly observe transitions between ergodicity-breaking dynamics to system freezing, standing in contrast to simple trends observed for the temperature-dependent vertex populations, all while the entropy features arise as a function of temperature. These results highlight how a geometrically frustrated system, with thermodynamics strictly adhering to local ice-rule constraints, runs back-and-forth through periods of ergodicity-breaking dynamics. Ergodicity breaking and the emergence of memory is important for emergent computation, particularly in physical reservoir computing. Our work serves as further evidence of how fundamental laws of thermodynamics can be experimentally explored via real-space imaging.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Artificial spin ice phase-change memory resistors

Abstract We present a proposal for realization of an electrical memory reminiscent of a memristor in connected Kagome artificial spin ice. We show that current flowing through the system alters the magnetic ensemble, which in turns controls the overall resistance thus leaving memory of current passage in the system. This introduces a current-dependent effect for a dynamic resistive state. We simulate a spin-induced thermal phase-change mechanism, and an athermal domain-wall spin inversion. In both cases we observe electrical memory behavior with an I – V hysteretic pinched loop, typical of memristors. These results can be extended to the more complex geometries in which artificial spin ice can be designed to engineer the hysteresis curve.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗