In 1972 Phil Andersen articulated the motto of condensed matter physics as “More is different.” However, for most condensed matter systems, the behavior of many more constituents is quite similar to that of more. Here I argue for a class of condensed matter, “tunable matter," in which many more is more different—the behaviors of more and of many more can be quite different. A familiar example of tunable matter is the brain, whose cognitive capabilities increase as size increases from 302 neurons (C. Elegans) to a million neurons (honeybees) to 100 billion neurons (humans). I propose that tunable matter provides a unifying conceptual framework for understanding emergent collective function in a wide class of biological systems, and motivates new non-biological systems capable of being trained to develop desired complex collective behaviors without using a processor.
Andrea Liu, Professor, University of Pennsylvania
Host: Michelle