Self-organized novelty detection in driven spin glasses

TL;DR

This paper introduces a self-organized mechanism in driven spin glasses that detects novelty by evolving towards configurations minimizing absorbed work, effectively predicting future environmental states.

Contribution

It presents a novel self-organized system in spin glasses that functions as a predictive novelty detector based on external driving conditions.

Findings

System evolves to minimize work absorption over time.

Configurations serve as effective novelty detectors.

Predicts typical future states of the environment.

Abstract

We consider a glassy system of interacting spins driven by continual switching amongst a finite set of nonuniform external fields. We find that the system evolves over time towards configurations that minimize the work absorbed from this external drive. The configurations which achieve this are specific to the details of the external fields used to drive the system, and therefore act effectively as a self-organized novelty-detector that embodies accurate predictions about the typical future of its external environment.