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# Hidden structure in the randomness of the prime number sequence?

## 1 Introduction

Prime numbers have fascinated scientists of all times, and their history is closely related to the very history of Mathematics. Recently, the interest in prime numbers has received a new impulse because they have appeared in different contexts ranging from Cryptology  to Biology  or quantum chaos , where the fine structure in primes must reflect properties of very high Riemann zeros. But, despite the huge advances in number theory, many properties of the prime numbers are still unknown, and they appear to us as a random collection of numbers without much structure. In the last few years, some numerical investigations related with the statistical properties of the prime number sequence  have revealed that, apparently, some regularity actually exists in the differences and increments (differences of differences) of consecutive prime numbers. For instance, some oscillations are found in the histogram of differences as we show in Fig. 1a. In that figure, one can see some spikes located at positions $`6`$, $`12`$, $`18`$, and so on. A similar behavior was reported by Kumar et al. , who showed that the histogram of increments has also a similar periodicity; in this case there are some grooves at increments given by $`0`$, $`\pm 6`$, $`\pm 12`$, etc (see Fig. 1b). These novel and promising findings have been thought to provide new information about the underlying unpredictable distribution of prime numbers and its potential applications.

The aim of this work is twofold: on the one hand we demonstrate that the apparent regularities observed by these authors do not reveal any structure in the sequence of primes, and that it is precisely a consequence of its randomness. On the other hand, we show that this randomness provides a new kind of predictable patterned behavior that we can characterize explicitly and compute analytically.

The paper is organized as follows: first, we introduce a theoretical framework to calculate the properties of consecutive differences of prime numbers. After that, we check numerically the validity of the theory when finite sequences of primes are computed, and discuss some of the main results obtained. Finally, conclusions are summarized.

## 2 Theory

Essentially, we will be dealing with the sequences obtained from the primes by subtracting them iteratively. Our findings are based on two basic results: the first one is the fact that every prime $`p>3`$ is $`p=\pm 1(mod6)`$ (i.e., there exists an integer $`N`$ such that $`p=6N\pm 1`$); the second one, a theorem by Dirichlet which states that, for any pair of numbers $`a`$ and $`q`$ with no common divisors, there are infinitely many primes $`p=a(modq)`$. In addition, these primes are roughly equidistributed for each possible value of $`a`$ . Setting $`q=6`$ this means that $`p=+1(mod6)`$ and $`p=1(mod6)`$ equally likely. In a probabilistic language, if $`P_n(+1)`$ denotes the fraction of primes $`pn`$ which are $`+1(mod6)`$ (hence $`P_n(1)=1P_n(+1)`$), then

$$\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}P_n(\pm 1)=\frac{1}{2},$$
(1)
Despite the apparent lack of structure that this result suggests, the numerical results concerning differences between primes cited above inspired us to search for regularities in the sea of randomness of the prime number sequence.

Now, we build the sequence of differences of consecutive primes, $`D^{(1)}`$, the sequence of differences of consecutive differences, $`D^{(2)}`$ and, in general, the m-differences, $`D^{(m)}`$, defined as differences of consecutive (m-1)-differences. For instance, taking the sequence of primes greater than $`3`$: $`5`$, $`7`$, $`11`$, $`13`$, $`17`$, $`19`$, $`23`$, $`29`$, $`31`$, $`37`$,…, we find:

$`D^{(1)}`$ $`=`$ $`2,4,2,4,2,4,6,2,6,\mathrm{},`$ (2)
$`D^{(2)}`$ $`=`$ $`2,2,2,2,2,2,4,4,\mathrm{}.`$ (3)
Note that all numbers are even because all primes $`p3`$ are odd.

The structure of these m-differences becomes clearer when we write them modulo 6 (this choice will be clarified below). Hereafter, we will term $`d^{(m)}`$ the integer between $`2`$ and $`2`$ such that $`d^{(m)}=D^{(m)}(mod6)`$. As all the numbers in the sequences given by Eqs. (2)-(3) are even, $`d^{(m)}`$ can only take the values $`0`$ and $`\pm 2`$. At this point, the reader will have noted that the origin of the periodicity seen in the histograms of differences is a consequence of the fact that every prime number is $`\pm 1(mod6)`$. More explictly, we will find a $`0`$ in the $`d^{(1)}`$ sequence whenever two consecutive primes are both of the type $`+1`$ or both $`1`$. Conversely, we will find $`+2`$ (respectively $`2`$) only when consecutive primes are $`1`$ and $`+1`$ ($`+1`$ and $`1`$). Then, given equation (1), the probability of finding a $`0`$ in the sequence is twice that of finding $`+2`$ or $`2`$. We want to remark that we have made the only extra assumption that consecutive primes can be $`\pm 1`$ independently, that is, the correlations between consecutive primes are negligible. Nevertheless, this is a hypothesis that we expect to hold for very large sequences of primes (average correlations will disappear for long enough sequences), but that we can not prove: this makes all our work a kind of conjecture, or only an approximation. Note that, if we consider the prime numbers to be $`+1`$ or $`1`$ independently, taking the sequence in order (consecutive primes) makes no difference with considering differences between any pair of given primes, even if they are not consecutive.

In the same way, we can rate the relative frequencies for the $`d^{(2)}`$ sequence, noting that the terms we are subtracting are not $`\pm 1`$, but $`0`$ and $`\pm 2`$. Therefore, the frequency of an outcome to be $`0`$ is $`2/3`$ times that of the frequencies to be $`+2`$ or $`2`$. This corresponds to the grooves in the histogram of increments in Fig. 1b.

At this point, we can calculate iteratively the subsequent frequencies for any m-difference. Nevertheless, we provide an exact formula to calculate them at any order through the generating function of the $`d^{(m)}`$ sequences. This task can be achieved because the m-differences satisfy some recurrence relations for a given piece of $`m+1`$ prime numbers. Let $`s_0\mathrm{}s_m`$ denote the value of those primes modulo $`6`$, then:

$$d^{(m)}(s_0,\mathrm{},s_m)=\underset{k=0}{\overset{m}{}}\left(\begin{array}{c}m\\ k\end{array}\right)(1)^ks_k.$$
(4)
So our search for $`0`$ (respectively $`+2`$ and $`2`$) in the sequences requires counting the number of solutions to the equation $`d^{(m)}=0`$ ($`=+2`$ and $`=2`$). For a probability distribution $`p_t`$ of a discrete variable $`t`$, we can define a generating function :

$$G(z)=\underset{t}{}p_tz^t.$$
(5)
The probability distribution in which we are interested is $`P^t(m)`$, which is the probability that a given sequence of $`m+1`$ consecutive primes has an $`m`$-difference $`d^{(m)}=t`$, where $`t`$ can only take values $`0`$, $`2`$ and $`2`$. It’s associated generating function is:

$$G_m(z)=P^0(m)+P^2(m)z^2+P^2(m)z^2.$$
(6)
We have made the assumption that the $`s_i`$ in a sequence $`(s_0,\mathrm{},s_m)`$ are all independent, so the probabilities $`P^t(m)`$ are proportional to the number of sequences such that $`d^{(m)}(s_0,\mathrm{},s_m)=t`$. Using this, we can write the generating function in (6) (forgetting the factor $`2^{(m+1)}`$, which accounts for the total number of different sequences $`(s_0,\mathrm{},s_m)`$) as:

$$G_m(z)=\underset{s_0=\pm 1}{}\mathrm{}\underset{s_m=\pm 1}{}\left\{z^{d^{(m)}}\delta (d^{(m)}0)+z^{d^{(m)}}\delta (d^{(m)}2)+z^{d^{(m)}}\delta (d^{(m)}+2)\right\},$$
(7)
which using $`\delta (d^{(m)}0)+\delta (d^{(m)}2)+\delta (d^{(m)}+2)=1`$ turns to be:

$$G_m(z)=\underset{s_0=\pm 1}{}\mathrm{}\underset{s_m=\pm 1}{}z^{d^{(m)}}.$$
(8)
This function has some interesting properties. For instance, $`G_m(1)=2^{m+1}`$ provides all the possible sequences of primes that we need to evaluate to determine the relative frequencies of $`0`$ and $`\pm 2`$. Similarly, $`\frac{1}{6}_{n=0}^5G_m(e^{n\pi i/3})`$ gives us only those combinations of primes for which $`d^{(m)}=0`$. In other words,

it helps us to calculate (performing the sums) the relative frequency of zeroes in the m-difference sequence, $`P^0(m)`$ as

$$P^0(m)=\frac{1}{3}\left(1+\underset{k=0}{\overset{m}{}}\mathrm{cos}\left[\frac{\pi }{3}\left(\begin{array}{c}m\\ k\end{array}\right)\right]+\underset{k=0}{\overset{m}{}}\mathrm{cos}\left[\frac{2\pi }{3}\left(\begin{array}{c}m\\ k\end{array}\right)\right]\right).$$
(9)
Using a similar argument it can be shown that $`P^{+2}(m)=P^2(m)=(1P^0(m))/2`$. Fig. 2 shows $`P^0(m)`$ for the first $`m=1000`$ m-differences.

The quasi-periodic behavior displayed by $`P^0(m)`$ is also remarkable. This behavior arises from the properties of the binomial coefficients appearing in equation (9) and the periodicity of the cosine. Thus, a maximum of $`P^0(m)`$ is found whenever all the elements in a row of Pascal’s triangle (except the first and the last, which are always $`1`$) are multiples of $`3`$. So, the maxima are located at $`m=3^n`$ and the minima at $`m=23^n`$, where $`n=0,1,2,\mathrm{}`$ These maxima and minima can be easily identified graphically in Fig. 3, which represents a kind of Sierpinski’s gasket obtained from the modulo $`3`$ Pascal’s triangle. We want to stress that this is an analytical result, and that the correspondence between the properties of $`P^0(m)`$ and Pascal’s triangle can be shown to be rigorously deduced from the properties of the binomial coefficients.

A connection can be found between our ideas and a classical number theory conjecture due to Hardy and Littlewood  which states:

###### Conjecture 1 (Hardy and Littlewood)

Let $`b_0,b_1,\mathrm{},b_m`$ be $`m`$ distinct integers, and $`P(x;b_0,b_1,\mathrm{},b_m)`$ the number of groups $`n+b_0,n+b_1,\mathrm{},n+b_m`$ between $`1`$ and $`x`$ consisting wholly of primes. Then

$$\underset{x\mathrm{}}{lim}P(x)G(b_0,b_1,\mathrm{},b_m)_2^x\frac{\text{d}x^{}}{(\mathrm{ln}x^{})^{m+1}},$$
(10)
where

$$G(b_0,b_1,\mathrm{},b_m)=\underset{p2}{}\left(\left(\frac{p}{p1}\right)^m\frac{p\nu }{p1}\right),$$
(11)
$`\nu =\nu (p;b_0,b_1,\mathrm{},b_m)`$ is the number of distinct residues of $`b_0,b_1,\mathrm{},b_m`$ to modulus $`p`$, $`p`$ are the prime numbers and $`n`$ is a natural number. 111As a curiosity, in the same reference Hardy and Littlewood make another conjecture which states that $`\pi (x+y)\pi (x)\pi (y)`$ for all $`x`$ and $`y2`$, where $`\pi (x)`$ is the prime counting function. It was shown by Richards  that these two conjectures are incompatible with each other. The one we reproduce in the main text is generally believed to be true.

Formula (11) can be rewritten using that:

$$G(b_0,b_1,\mathrm{},b_m)=C_mH(b_0,b_1,\mathrm{},b_m),$$
(12)
where

$$C_m=\underset{p>(m+1)}{}\left(\left(\frac{p}{p1}\right)^m\frac{p1m}{p1}\right),$$
(13)
$$H(b_0,b_1,\mathrm{},b_m)=\underset{p(m+1)}{}\left(\left(\frac{p}{p1}\right)^m\frac{p\nu }{p1}\right)\underset{p|\mathrm{\Delta },p>(m+1)}{}\left(\frac{p\nu }{p1m}\right),$$
(14)
and $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is the product of the differences of the $`b`$’s. By $`p|\mathrm{\Delta }`$ we mean that $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is divisible by $`p`$, $`C_m`$ are known as the Hardy-Littlewood constants. Written in this form, all the dependence of $`G`$ on the actual members of the group of primes is contained in $`H`$. But $`H`$ is a finite expression, and in principle can be evaluated for all cases of interest. Moreover, as for fixed length $`m`$ of a group of primes the other terms of $`G`$ are identical, the different frequency of appearance of each type of groups of the same length depends only on $`H`$. Note that this conjecture does not use that the primes $`n+b_0,n+b_1,\mathrm{},n+b_m`$ have to be consecutive, in that sense, it has no relationship with our results. But we have already said that our results should hold also for non consecutive primes, due to the fact that they are only based in considering independent occurrences of $`+1`$ and $`1`$ primes. So we could try to use the Hardy-Littlewood conjecture to compute the relative frequency of different groups of primes. We are interested in what we have called m-differences. A set of $`n+b_0,n+b_1,\mathrm{},n+b_m`$ differences between primes defines a m-difference of order $`m`$ and value:

$$D^{(m)}(b_0,\mathrm{},b_m)=\underset{k=1}{\overset{m}{}}\left(\begin{array}{c}m\\ k1\end{array}\right)(1)^{k1}b_k.$$
(15)
Again, we denote $`d^{(m)}=D^{(m)}(mod6)`$. The relative frequency of appearances of a given value $`0`$, $`+2`$ or $`2`$ of $`d^{(m)}`$ for a constant $`m`$ is proportional to all the sets $`(b_0,\mathrm{},b_m)`$ that produce that value of $`d^{(m)}`$, and from equations (10) and (12) the contribution of each set is proportional to $`H(b_0,\mathrm{},b_m)`$. We define then $`^t(m)`$ as the sum of all the $`H(b_0,\mathrm{},b_m)`$ such that $`d^{(m)}(b_0,\mathrm{},b_m)=t`$. This $`^t(m)`$ is proportional to the number of groups of consecutive primes $`n+b_0,n+b_1,\mathrm{},n+b_m`$ which have $`d^{(m)}(b_0,\mathrm{},b_m)=t`$, and hence is proportional to the probability $`P^t(m)`$ that a given m-difference has value $`t(mod6)`$.

Using this, we can write:

$$P^0(m)^0(m)=\underset{\text{set}𝐛\backslash d^{(m)}=0}{}H(b_0,\mathrm{},b_m)$$
(16)
$$P^{+2}(m)^{+2}(m)=\underset{\text{set}𝐛\backslash d^{(m)}=+2}{}H(b_0,\mathrm{},b_m)$$
(17)
$$P^2(m)^2(m)=\underset{\text{set}𝐛\backslash d^{(m)}=2}{}H(b_0,\mathrm{},b_m)$$
(18)
From our results, we make the following conjecture concerning the sums of function $`H`$:

$$^{+2}(m)=^2(m)^2(m),$$
(19)
and from it we make a final conjecture that relates explicitly our formula (9) with the Hardy-Littlewood theory:

$$P^0(m)=\frac{^0(m)}{^0(m)+2^2(m)}$$
(20)
We have found no way to perform the infinite sums in (16-18), but we find formula (20) a beautiful relation and an interesting open problem. This relation between our theory and the well established Hardy-Littlewood theory shows that we can extract some information in our theory directly from Hardy and Littlewood’s developments, and therefore giving further strength to our point. From equation (14) we can see, for instance, that for $`m=1`$ (differences between consecutive primes), the probability of finding a difference of value $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is proportional to $`_{p|\mathrm{\Delta }}\frac{p1}{p2}`$. Hence, dividing the histogram a) of Fig. 1 by this factor, the periodicity disappears, as shown in Fig. 4. The case $`m=1`$ is specially simple because the factor $`\nu `$ is trivially 1, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is just the value of the difference between primes. For higher $`m`$-differences the problem is harder, as we can no longer set $`\nu `$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ just from the values of $`m`$ and the $`m`$-difference we are interested in: in this case, for each $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ it is necessary to find all the groups $`(b_0,\mathrm{},b_m)`$ from which it can be obtained, and compute the whole factor $`H(b_0,\mathrm{},b_m)`$ associated with them. Our theory establishes a connection between the local properties (in the sense that they only apply to single groups $`(b_0,\mathrm{},b_m)`$) in the Hardy-Littlewood theory and global properties we describe, namely the $`m`$-differences, which depend on all the possible groups $`(b_0,\mathrm{},b_m)`$. It gives, through equation (9), a prediction that is easily computed for any $`m`$, while from Hardy and Littlewood’s results it is very difficult to say anything beyond $`m=1`$.

## 3 Numerical Results and Discussion

All the theoretical results presented in Sec. II stand if we consider the infinite sequence of primes. Now we consider the situation in which we pick a finite sequence of primes. In such a case, we expect some deviations from the results presented above due to, for instance, the transient behavior known as Chebyshev’s bias. Chebyshev noted that at the beginning of the sequence there are more primes of type $`1`$ than of type $`+1`$. Moreover, Bays and Hudson  proved that the first time when $`P_n(+1)>P_n(1)`$ occurs for $`n=608,981,813,029`$. This huge number is of the order of magnitude of $`10^{13}`$, bigger than $`2^{39}`$ and higher than numbers used for usual calculations without using specialized software. Nevertheless, this is a misleading result because the relative error of considering that $`P_n(+1)=P_n(1)=1/2`$ is about $`1.6\%`$ for the first $`1,000`$ primes, about $`0.2\%`$ for the first $`10,000`$ and just $`0.08\%`$ for the first $`100,000`$. This relative error continues to decrease for increasing number of primes, so any finite sequence will reproduce our predictions with enough accuracy. Moreover, from the work of Littlewood  it is now well known that the inequality $`P_n(1)>P_n(+1)`$ is reversed for infinitely many integers.

In Fig. 5 we show both theory and numerics. As we anticipated, there are some slight deviations but just at a small number of points. We have checked that these deviations reduce monotonously as we take larger sequences, due to the vanishing of Chebyshev’s bias as we increase the sequence size (see inset in Fig. 5). One criticism may be that the error is significantly large in some cases, but note that this error is not large enough to hide the periodicity in the sequences. For instance, for one of the worst cases, $`m=1`$, we predicted $`P^0(1)=2P^{\pm 2}(1)`$ but, actually, we have found numerically $`P^0(1)=1.62P^{\pm 2}(1)`$. Thus, the periodicity modulo $`6`$ is still transparent in spite of the fact that its strength deviates from the predicted one.

The reason why we use $`6`$ is that it is the first factor giving non-trivial information about the prime numbers. The first number to give us information about them is 2: it says that the rest of the primes cannot be multiples of 2. The same applies for 3. 4 gives no new information, as it is $`4=2^2`$, so it only says that prime numbers cannot be multiple of 2. 5, of course, excludes its own multiples. 6 is the first product of two different primes, and hence, saying that the prime numbers are of the form $`6n\pm 1`$ says that they cannot be multiples of 2 nor multiples of 3. From this simple observation, the fact that $`m`$-differences have to be $`0(mod6)`$ or $`\pm 2(mod6)`$ is readily derived. If we tried to repeat the same formalism with 4, we should see that all the primes are $`4n\pm 1`$, which is the same as saying that they are $`1(mod2)`$, that is, odd numbers. $`m`$-differences would be $`0(mod4)`$ or $`\pm 2(mod4)`$. But it has no sense considering this difference of sign between $`+2(mod4)`$ and $`2(mod4)`$, as both things are exactly the same. So we would only be able to talk about $`0(mod4)`$ and $`2(mod4)`$, which means that both of them are equiprobable, and so no periodicity with period 4 should be observed, as in fact happens. Our results can be generalized taking other divisors $`q`$ instead of $`6`$. As 6 is $`2\times 3`$ and thus has non-trivial information about the sequence of prime numbers, the same happens with all the different products of primes. That is, our formalism can be extended to $`2\times 5=10,2\times 7=14,2\times 11=22,2\times 13=26,2\times 3\times 5=30`$, etc., predicting secondary periodicities in the $`m`$-differences histograms. This periodicities have already been observed in references , and are explained in the framework of our theory.

Moreover, we may also consider the case in which the differences are evaluated between non-consecutive primes provided that they are picked at random. The results will remain the same because all the differences are calculated modulo $`6`$. For instance, a chaotic system with energy levels proportional to prime numbers will display oscillations in the spectrum of the emitted light through radiative transitions, because the frequency of the emitted light is proportional to the difference between energy levels (consecutive or not).

Another observation that supports our findings is the jumping champion phenomenon: at the beginning of the prime numbers sequence, the most often occurring 1-difference is 6. From $`10^{35}`$ it is 30, and there is evidence that from around $`10^{450}`$ it is 210, etc. In reference  this phenomenon, also related with the Hardy-Littlewood conjecture, is studied in detail. Table 3 in this reference shows histograms of gaps between consecutive primes 222In fact, probable primes. for primes next to $`10^{30}`$, $`10^{40}`$, $`10^{400}`$ and $`10^{450}`$. Although statistics is not good enough in the biggest cases, in all of them the periodicity of period 6 is clearly displayed, giving a numerical evidence of our findings far beyond our own numerical calculations. Note also that all the known jumping champions are multiples of 6, as should be expected.

Finally, we can reformulate all the presented findings referring to the fact that the random structure of the $`\pm 1`$ primes resembles the high temperature (disordered) phase of spin systems . This analogy can be cast explicitly by means of the Hamiltonian

$$d^{(m)}(s_0,\mathrm{},s_m)=\underset{k=0}{\overset{m}{}}\left(\begin{array}{c}m\\ k\end{array}\right)(1)^ks_k.$$
(21)
Then, the generating function $`G_m(z)`$ is equal to the partition function of $``$, $`𝒵`$, if we identify the temperature as $`k_BT=1/\mathrm{log}z`$. Note that this would correspond to a spin system defined on a one dimensional lattice without interactions between spins and subjected to an applied external field

$$B_k=\left(\begin{array}{c}m\\ k\end{array}\right)(1)^k.$$
(22)
Likewise, we could take some advantage of the collected knowledge in spin systems to gain some insight into the properties of the products between primes. These products are the basis of some encrypting systems . For instance, let us consider an interacting Hamiltonian of the form

$$=\underset{i,j}{}J_{ij}s_is_j.$$
(23)
where the coupling constants $`J_{ij}`$ would depend on the recurrence relations between sequences of products. We expect this kind of approach to hold because the product of two primes will also be of the form $`\pm 1(mod6)`$.

## 4 Conclusions

We have studied the general behavior of consecutive differences between primes, both theoretically and numerically. Our theoretical predictions are based on a theorem by Dirichlet and on a hypothesis that neglects a kind of correlations between prime numbers. In principle they are only valid for the whole sequence of primes, but we find that they are also accurate for finite sequences. The deviations found are due to the transient behavior known as Chebyshev’s bias. Furthermore, the theory is still valid if the differences are computed between non-consecutive primes, and Chebyshev’s bias will be less pronounced.

Our main conclusion is that the main feature of the sequence of prime numbers, namely, its randomness, hides an underlying behavior arising when successive differences are computed. Thus, new and interesting phenomena can be derived and novel applications can be settled. For instance, the length of the periodic orbits in quantum chaos is related to the zeroes of Riemann’s function and these with the prime numbers . So, these new findings can be of interest in the study of their statistical properties and engage with random matrix theory and the most outstanding problem in number theory: Riemann’s hypothesis . We have related our theory to established number theory through the Hardy-Littlewood conjecture. We have also found a connection between our theory and the statistical mechanics of spin systems.

To conclude, we mention another interesting example in which the differences between primes are crucial, which is related to the fact that the life cycles of different animal species are precisely prime numbers. In this case, the life or death of the species depends on this property .

We are indebted to José A. Cuesta for valuable discussions and critical reading of the manuscript, and with Sara Cuenda for her collaboration in preparing the figures. This work has been supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología of Spain through grants BFM2003-07749-C05-01 and BFM2003-07749-C05-05.


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# Pattern Excitation-Based Processing: The Music of The Brain

## 1 Introduction

The goal of this paper is to present a theory capable of explaining the remarkable information processing abilities and complex behavior of biological neural networks found in living organisms, particularly in their brains. To accomplish this goal an information processing (computing) paradigm is discussed which is based on the view of the computational process as being an excitation of a system in response to its inputs, similar to the excitation of a particular mode of a string in response to a particular pattern of its initial velocities and displacements. The proposed processing paradigm is different from the one based on Turing machines, and because it is based on excitation of output patterns by some kind of resonators it will be called pattern excitation - based. A generalized machine realizing such processing will be called P-machine. One of the statements of this paper is that any computation achievable with the use of conventional computers based on Turing machines (called here T-machines for brevity) is also achievable by P-machines.

The term resonator is used in this paper to denote an excitable object of some nature which is capable of producing different modes in response to different input patterns. It is not required to be linear, and in fact, non-linearity could be essential for the ability to add new excitation modes to the set of exiting ones. The excitation modes of the resonators discussed here could be changed. The process of tuning of the resonators includes adjustments to the excitation patterns of the existing modes and adding new modes, and can be called learning. Tuning a resonator in a P-machine is similar to re-programming a T-machine-based computer. The property of the resonators of being active means that they can draw energy from sources different from their inputs.

There could be, and in fact exist in the real world, many realizations of P-machines with different levels of complexity, musical instruments being among the ”simplest” of them. The realization of P-machines which is of the main interest in this paper is given by neural networks.

The brain’s main information processing cells are neurons, which make numerous synaptic connections with other neurons forming what is known as neural networks. The remarkable abilities of neural networks in respect to pattern recognition are being intensively studied (see books and reviews ,,,). It has also been noticed that neural networks are, in principle, capable of performing any computation that a conventional computer can do.

The main power of neural networks comes from the parallel processing of information by very many neurons. But how exactly are neurons organized for the information processing? The well studied neural networks performing pattern recognition function could be considered as passive processing elements. The active elements are given by the pattern excitation networks formed by neurons. The pattern excitation circuits considered here are capable of creating spatio-temporal patterns of activity and are considered to be the network’s main components which code and generate all responses of the network to all potential inputs.

By stating that neurons are organized in the two primary circuit types, one effectively performs what is known in physics as ”renormalization”, which in this case amounts to replacing fine degrees of freedom represented by neurons with the more coarse grained ones represented by the pattern excitation and recognition circuits. These coarse grained degrees of freedom provide the representation of the nervous system which is more adequate for describing how it works, including behavior and cognition. This transition to the coarse grained picture efficiently reduces the number of degrees of freedom by few orders of magnitude and makes the system much easier to study. Individual neurons, however, still have a role to play: they are wires connecting different parts of the neural P-machine.

One can think of the pattern excitation networks as adjustable, tunable resonators made out of individual neurons, capable of learning and reproducing a number of excitation modes. Various modes of these resonators could be excited by various patterns of stimuli (inputs). The process of tuning the resonators is equivalent to learning by the neural network.

It will be shown below that training of an excitation pattern network could be accomplished by the corresponding pattern recognition network in the supervised learning mode, assuming Hebbian learning in the networks. This leads to the concept of dual pattern recognition - pattern excitation networks, which recognize inputs and generate responses to them.

Hierarchically organized pattern excitation networks can produce very complex behavior and could be responsible for human language and cognition. Some approaches on how that could be accomplished will be considered in chapter 7.

In the computer science language, excitation patterns play the role of different subroutines or procedures called by the main program for processing of various inputs. The main program itself, which often takes the form of an unconditional loop, could be compared to the set of excitation patterns, which control and organize all other excitation pattern circuits. Perhaps even more adequate would be comparison of pattern processing with the object oriented approach in computer science, in which pattern recognition and excitation networks would be direct analogs of objects.

The term neural networks is usually used to describe artificial neural systems. For terminological simplicity in this paper this term will be used for description of both artificial and natural neural systems. Also the words network and circuit will be used interchangeably. The pattern recognition networks will be denoted as PRN, and pattern excitation networks will be denoted as PEN. Since the only realization of P-machines considered in this paper is based on neural networks, the discussion of P-machines will be made mostly in terms of their neural network-based realization.

The work on this paper was largely stimulated by observations that neural networks and brain exhibits some properties of systems studied in the condenced matter physics, particularly by the works ,,,.

## 2 P-machines

A P-machine is a mathematical abstraction of the pattern-based information processing. A generalized P-machine is a set of resonators. Particular nature of these resonators is not important here, it could be strings, membranes, resonance cavities of any sort, acoustical, electromagnetic, or other. It is illustrated on Fig. 1 where the set of resonators is called excitable media. The resonators considered here could be active and non-linear, meaning that they could be capable of amplifying particular input patterns, or exciting output patterns not necessarily resembling the input patterns. Each resonator from the set could be excited by patterns of its initial distortion of the corresponding nature. The exact mode of the excitation is the function of the input pattern. This excitation could be thought of as the result of the ”computational process” coded by the resonator. Tuning the resonator to a different set of excitation modes could be thought of as re-programming of the resonator. If the modes of the resonators could be changed by the input patterns, then memory could be created in such systems. One of the statements of this paper is that any computation possible by the Turing machine is also possible by a set of tunable resonators, and vice versa. A note is in place, however, that the mapping of one machine into another is not necessarily direct. For this mapping, the work of the Turing machine has to be represented as a set of recognizable patterns capable of exciting other patterns in the corresponding P-machine, so each excitation could correspond to a complex program run on the Turing machine. Vice versa, a single instruction of a Turing machine cold be translated in a potentially very complex set of excitation patterns of the P-machine.

Any combination of P-machines is again a P-machine.

Depending on their construction, some P-machines can learn to recognize new input patterns and excite new output patterns. This learning on the one hand is the intrinsic property of the P-machine, and on the other, could require a feedback from its environment. Generally speaking, a P-machine takes its inputs from its environment, and its ouptut could be considered as a change in the environment. This closes the fedback loop, since the next input to the P-machine will be provided by the changed environment. Therefore, continuous operation of a P-machine can result in significant changes to its environment.

To formally describe a P-machine, let us introduce the following notation:

$`t`$ \- time

$`I`$ \- the input field (example: a set of neurons providing the input to a circuit)

$`O`$ \- the output field (example: a set of neurons taking the output from a circuit),

$`p_I`$ \- the set of patterns recognized in the input field

$`p_E`$ \- the set of excitation patterns produced by the excitable resonators

$`p_O`$ \- the set of output patterns of the P-machine

The computation process by the P-machine could be described by the following set of expressions ($`f`$ stands for some functions):

$$p_O(t)=f_{OI}(p_E(t)),$$
(1)
which means that the output patterns are results of the pattern excitation activity of the machine. In turn,

$$p_E(t)=f_{EI}(p_I(t)),$$
(2)
meaning that the excitation patterns are generated by the machine in response to recognized patterns in the input field, and

$$p_I(t)=f_{II}(I(t)).$$
(3)
These equations must be supplemented by the machine learning rules describing how the sets of the recognized and excited patterns are changed:

$`p_I`$ $`=`$ $`L_I(I,p_E)`$ (4)
$`p_E`$ $`=`$ $`L_E(p_I,p_E).`$ (5)
For these equations to be useful in particular applications, all functions $`f`$ and the learning rules $`L_I`$ and $`L_E`$ must be specified.

The correspondence between the pattern processing based machines and Turing machines can be loosely formulated by the following statement.

P-machines are capable of performing any computation a T-machine can perform and vice versa.

To prove that any computation possible by a P-machine can also be performed with a T-machine, one has to write a computer program for a T-machine simulating the P-machine, and to prove that any computation possible by a T-machine is also possible by a P-machine, one has to design a P-machine simulating the T-machine.

This statement says nothing about the efficiency of the maps between the T and P -machines and resources required for the simulations.

One can think of the patterns excitable by the P-machine as corresponding to various pieces of a conventional computer program. For example, an excitation pattern circuit could correspond to a single character, instruction, a block, a subroutine or a whole very sophisticated program.

## 3 Hierarchical structure of patterns and P-machines

In the MATHEMATICA book by Stephen Wolfram  there is a statement that ”Everything is an expression”. This paper is largely based on the axiom that Everything is a pattern. An expression is also a pattern. Everything from a single symbol to a very abstract theory could be represented as patterns or patterns of patterns. Even the lack of patterns could be classified as a lack of patterns pattern. But what precisely is a pattern?

In conventional computer science, patterns are defined as extended regular expressions . This definition allows to use finite state machines for finding patterns. But is it possible to define a pattern without reference to expressions, or it is an elementary notion which can not itself be defined? In the later case it is similar to such objects as point, straight line or plane in elementary geometry. One will have to use patterns of some nature to define what is a pattern. The WordWeb dictionary program installed in the author’s computer defines pattern as A perceptual structure . The working definition adopted in this paper is that whatever a P-machine can recognize or produce is a pattern.

Each pattern is made out of elements, which could also be considered patterns and will be called subpatterns. This leads to hierarchical organization of patterns. Generally there is more than one way to identify subpatterns in a pattern, so that one can say that there are patterns of ways in which subpatterns could be identified.

To illustrate this point, let us imagine music made by a pianist playing on a piano. The sounds of music represent excitation patterns of the air recognizable by our ears. Each sound is a result of a motion excitation pattern of a particular string of the piano, yet, it is a subpattern in a passage which is the pattern represented by the sequence of excited strings and strength and duration of each sound, which is produced as the pattern of strokes of the piano keys, each of which is a subpattern of the last pattern. Rearrangement of these subpatterns will lead to a differently sounding passage - the result of different excitation pattern of the piano keys. In turn, passages are subpatterns in melodies, melodies are subpatterns of parts of the composition, and so on.

Similar analysis can be applied to speech and language. Sounds are subpatterns of words, words are subpatterns of small idiomatic expressions, which are subpatterns of phrases, which are subpatterns of sentences, which are subpatterns of thoughts. Thus, thoughts are patterns at a certain level of this hierarchy.

The described hierarchical scheme is not absolute. There could be many feedback loops in the system. For example, our thoughts, choice of words, and sounds are influenced by our desires and emotional patterns acting on all levels of the described hierarchy. Sounds of music affect the emotional state of the pianist, which affects the way he or she plays.

The hierarchical nature of patterns naturally leads to the notion of hierarchically organized P-machines. Bigger P-machines could be made by hierarchically connecting smaller P-machines. In these architecture, subpatterns of excitation patterns of one level of the hierarchy of P-machines become input patterns to the next level P-machines. Existence of feedback loops results in excitation patterns produced by different parts of a P-machine being not completely static and independent, they are influenced by other excitations present in the system, they could be blocked, re-excited or amplified, leading to potentially very complex picture.

One possible organization of the neural network realization of the P-machine corresponding to the described sounds to thoughts hierarchy will be considered in chapter 7.2

The hierarchical organization described here does not have to be strict. One can imagine constructions in which outputs from what is considered lower level into a higher level P-machine, as well as one level of the hierarchy providing inputs to several levels below.

## 4 Assumptions about the properties of neurons and neural networks

In order to introduce the realization (or representation as a physicist would call it) of P-machines in neural networks, let us first consider very general properties of neurons assumed in this paper.

In accordance with the contemporary neuroscience, neurons are excitable cells making many synaptic connections with other neurons, muscles and whatever other cells they are effecting or innervating. The effects of the neural coupling on the post-synaptic cells could be excitatory or inhibitory, depending on the particular connection. In this paper no specific assumptions are made about particular properties of neurons outside of what is generally known about them ,,,. For example, it will be assumed that neurons have a threshold excitation function, but no particular model of that function will be used in this paper, as well as no specific assumptions about particular forms of the action potential or firing patterns of individual neurons will be made. These considerations could be very important however in discussions of particular excitation patterns, patterns stability, reliability of the information carried by the action potential and so on.

It will be also assumed that by the virtue of Hebbian learning, which involves adjustments of strength of binary interactions between neurons, neural networks can be trained to produce specific output signals in response to classes of input signals. This assumption is based on the intensively studied learning in neural networks (see for example ,,,).

A pattern excitation neural circuit can contain a very large number of neurons, perhaps on the orders of $`10^410^8`$. When speaking about such circuits, it will be assumed that all mechanisms necessary to make excitation patterns stable are present. Among other thing, these mechanisms could include positive and negative feedback loops, circuits employing inhibitory synapse and so on. This area currently is not well studied, so these assumptions will have to be validated by further research.

Since this paper is concerned with the presentation of a rather general framework, the assumptions made are very general. For specific applications of ideas presented here, many specific assumptions about neurons and neuron networks will have to be made.

## 5 Nervous systems as P-machines

This section outlines the main points of the theory that views nervous systems as P-machines.

1. Neurons are assembled into two primary types of circuits: pattern recognition and pattern excitation ones. There is no sharp division between these two types of circuits (pattern recognition and pattern excitation) and both functions could be represented by the same circuit.
2. Pattern excitation circuits are capable of learning and producing specific spatio-temporal patterns of excitations in response to various patterns of stimuli. There could be excitable circuits with different characteristic time and spatial scales, producing a wide range of different excitation patterns.
3. Learning of an excitation pattern by a network is in a number of ways similar to learning in the pattern recognition networks (for later see for example, ,). In the approach considered in this paper, the learning of excitation patterns is accomplished through a supervised training of the PEN by a PRN, and could be based on Hebbian learning (see chapter 6). The pattern generated by the PEN will be called dual to the input pattern recognized by the PRN.
4. Potentially a very large number of neural P-machines could be working in parallel, simultaneously processing various parts of patterns.
5. Pattern excitation neural networks are hierarchically organized, which allows them to produce complex behavior, such as observed in living organisms. In the hierarchial organization, parts of excitation patterns (sub-patterns) produce streams of inputs which excite patterns in the lower level networks. Sub-patterns of a single pattern of a higher level PEN could produce sequence of inputs for a single lower level PEN or simultaneously excite multiple PENs.

## 6 Learning excitation patterns: recognition - excitation duality

Let us now discuss some ways in which the training of new excitation modes (patterns) could be accomplished.

Let us connect input of the PRN to the output of the PEN, and the output of the PRN to the input of the PEN using neurons sending axons from the PRN to PEN, as shown on Fig.2 Then when there is an input pattern of the PRN which it can recognize, the output of the PRN will play the role of the pattern presented and the input pattern will play the role of the output shown to the network (PEN) under the supervised training. Because PRN output follows its input, delay d-networks are included on Fig. 2 to insure satisfaction of causality conditions in the training process. If one now assumes that the Hebbian learning is taking place in the PEN, the PEN will learn an excitation pattern which will resemble the input. This PEN will be complementary to the PRN in the sense that the input to the PRN becomes the prototype of the excitation pattern of the PEN, while the output of the PRN becomes the input to the PEN triggering the excitation mode producing the pattern. The direction of connections between the PRN and PEN and,correspondingly the training process could also be reversed, so that the PEN will train the PRN, provided that necessary delay circuits are also included.

Another purpose of the d-networks is to alter the input and output of the PRN which are being delivered for the PEN training. By altering the patterns used in training the PEN, it could be taught a wide range of responses to various stimuli. It has to be noted that these patterns could actually be different from the ones experienced by the PRN. The neurons connecting the two networks could themselves be parts of or be modulated by different other networks, resulting in the huge variety of possible excitable patterns stored in the PEN.

One can imagine various scenarios in which the described learning mechanism could be actually implemented in a neural network. For example, a PRN can be training the formation temporary pattenrs in the PENs serving as a ”scratch memory”, which in turn could drive the formation of permanent patterns. The permanent PENs would be strengthened with the use and the PRN would also direct which permanent PEN is trained by the scratch memory at any moment of time. This approach is illustrated on Fig.3 Here new excitation modes for related recognized patterns could be created in the same pattern excitation network.

Let us briefly touch upon the relationship between learning and evolution. Many variations of neural networks organization and learning processes are possible within the proposed framework. For example, d-networks as well as specific reactions of the network to the same outside input could be different, though the participating networks could be trained through the same basic mechanism. These specific reactions and PRN, PEN and d-networks could be subjects of selection through the evolution of organisms. There is also a possibility that the PENs are ”pre-trained” by evolution to the point when little additional training by the PRNs is needed to adjust the function of the PENs to specific environments.

The fact that the pattern recognition networks train pattern excitation networks, which generate reactions of the system to the external inputs, leads to the picture in which both types of networks are complementary to each other. The close relationship between them illustrated on Fig. 2, in which the excitation of the PEN are essentially (modified) inputs to the PRN, allows one to consider the PRN and the PEN as being dual. Structures like the one shown on Fig. 2 could be used as building blocks for more complex networks. Hierarchically organized, such complex networks could be able to perform many functions which are found in living organisms, including language and cognition.

The folowing remarks are in place.

Though pattern excitation networks are generally capable of learning their patterns, they do not have to learn anything to work. There could exist PRNs which just generate patterns, in living organisms this would correspond to emotions or desires generated without originally learning any patterns. This would be similar to work of cardiac pacemaker cells, which do not need to be excited by an action potential passing by. Existence of such ”pacemaker” networks can also be viewed as the manifestation of a different type of learning, which could be associated with biological evolution.

The distinction between pattern recognition and pattern excitation networks is not precise. One can think of the PENs as being PRNs with outputs described by complex patterns. The situation is somewhat similar to the distinction between a program and data in conventional computers, where everything could be treated as data, but one can define the program as being the part of data which is supplied by the programmer, and the ”true” data being all the rest. In the case of neural networks the classification appears to be trickier and goes by the function of the network in the neural system. In this case the recognizable by PRNs input patterns can be used to train excitable networks to respond to different inputs. In fact the response could manifest itself as very complex behavior, much more complex than the input that excited it.

## 7 Examples

### 7.1 Excitable neural circuits

A simple example of an excitable neural circuit is given in the Fig. 4. Detailed analysis of the excitation properties of neural networks is presented in . Let me note, that the pattern excitation networks under consideration in this paper are not necessarily small, the circuit discussed in this section is chosen as an illustration for its simplicity. Let us assume that the excitatory stimulation of the neuron cell body (drawn as a circle) will generate an action potential propagating along its axon, followed by a short refractory period. A stable excitation traveling counterclockwise could be generated in the circuit by a pulse stimulus from the input neuron $`ni1`$, assuming the excitatory synapse between $`ni1`$ and $`n1`$.

The excitation wave traveling in the neural circuit will generate a certain excitation pattern on the output neurons $`no1`$ \- $`no3`$. The other input neuron $`ni2`$ could make either excitatory or inhibitory synapse with some neuron, $`n5`$ in this example. This input neuron ($`ni2`$) has the ability to alter the excitation pattern of the output neurons or even completely block the excitation. Despite of the simplicity of the model, it illustrates the main features of other excitable neural circuits. One can think of the inputs $`ni1`$ and $`n2`$ as providing the input pattern and the outputs $`no1`$ \- $`no3`$ as providing the output pattern which is created by the various excitation modes (patterns) of the circuit. Different spatio-temporal combinations of the input signals will result in different output patterns of activity on $`no1`$ \- $`no3.`$

More complex circuits are capable of storing and reproduction of more complex excitation patterns. They could also be controlled in the more precise and sophisticated way than the simple circuit shown in the above example.

It should be noted that the circuit considered in this example is not being treated as a mere memory element, but a computational unit analogous to a subroutine in an computer program. Every time the circuit is excited, a specific ”computation” is performed. The result of this ”computation” is coded in the excitation pattern output of the circuit.

Pattern excitation neural networks could be hierarchically organized to produce complex behavior. As is was already mentioned, each PEN could be capable of storing and reproducing potentially large number of patterns, which could be consequently excited by a stream of inputs to the PEN consisting of subpatterns of patterns excited by a higher level network. Also, in hierarchically organized PENs, a single excitation of the higher level network can supply streams of inputs to potentially large number of lower levels networks.

Various topologies are possible in concrete realizations such as nesting (Fig. 5), tree and other. Exactly which topologies are realized and how the network hierarchies are formed and trained is the subject of further research.

### 7.2 Language and thought

The approach to the language and thought processing with P-machines, which includes recognition and generation of speech and thought, has to be developed based on the corresponding pattern hierarchy consisting of patterns of sounds, words, sentences and thoughts. Let us first trace the thinking and speaking process from the ”bottom-up”, starting with making sounds and ending with generating thoughts. At each step of the process there is a set of pattern excitation networks taking inputs from one level of the hierarchy above it and generating inputs for the networks one level below.

1. Sound pattern excitation networks. Excitation patterns produced by these networks are passed to muscles making sounds.
2. Words pattern excitation networks. Excitation patterns of these networks are passed as inputs to sound excitation networks. Subpatterns of word excitation patterns trigger excitation of patterns corresponding to separate sounds. Rearrangements of these subpatterns form patterns corresponding to different words.
3. Stable word combinations, idiomatic expressions and grammar pattern excitation networks. These patterns of combining words into sentences make up grammar, which in described approach is viewed as a set of patterns in which individual words are major subpatterns.
4. Thoughts pattern excitation networks. In this approach thoughts are defined as patterns at this level of the hierarchy. Subpatterns of these excitation patterns provide inputs to the lower levels networks described above.
5. Emotions and desires pattern excitation networks. These could work as pacemakers and moderators starting the whole process or regulating its pace and mood.

Some of the levels could be subdivided into further sub-hierarchies.

This approach is illustrated on Fig. 6. In the described hierarchy all level are treated as (neural) P-machines, which could have different complexities.

This hierarchy should be considered as the dominant structure, however other structures could coexist alongside with it. For example, some subpatterns of lower level excitations could be fed back to higher level networks, while the later could provide inputs to more than the one levels below, which would lead to ”context sensitive” speech, and thoughts being directed by the choice of words, or sound of speech.

In addition to the excitation networks, a parallel hierarchy of recognition networks can be drawn, as shown on Fig. 7. The PRNs shown on this figure are connected to their dual PENs, so that PENs could be trained. The resulting P-machine is capable to recognize its inputs and generate responses to them as output patterns.

Let me note that the recognition process by the hierarchy of PRNs based on the hierarchy of patterns is different from translating computer languages, which is based on ”parsing an expression” ,,.

Talking about the human thought, one immediately is faced with its unpredictable nature, which brings up the question: how the seeming unpredictability of thought could be reconciled with the stable excitation patterns approach? This question could be answered in more than one way, and different mechanisms of thought generation could actually be present. Thought generation could be related to (sub) patterns rearrangement and generating new patterns from subpatterns of different patterns, so that new patterns could be accepted and made permanent if they ”pass certain tests” (equivalent to ”are able to excite certain other patterns” in the P-machine language). In addition, the networks’ excitation patterns are modified by many inputs, thus varying the patterns excited at any given time by the same network. These patterns are also excitation modes of the networks responsible for the direction of learning and evolution of thought. At the same time, there is a great deal of stability of such patterns: similar thoughts come to us, as well as similar emotional patterns are excited, in response to similar situations. Also, there seems to be a continuous learning process by the network which results in the excitation patterns being continually modified. This process could also be described by the excitation of patterns, our patterns of learning and patterns (or ways) of thinking appear to be stable over our lifetimes.

Let me stress again that the described language and thought generating hierarchy is presented here as a possibility and to illustrate the theoretical framework suggested in this paper. More research, experimental, theoretical, and computer modeling - based, is needed to understand mechanisms of human language and thought.

## 8 Generalizations

One of the points of this paper is that an intelligent system could be formed by hierarchies of P-machines consisting of pattern recognition and pattern excitation networks which could be trained though Hebbian learning process mediated by a local binary interaction. The question arises: do there exist systems other than nervous, which are capable of forming PRNs and PENs with Hebbian-like local learning rules? Such systems could in principal exist at different temporal and spatial scales and might not be easily detectable in the human lifetime. Human societies, from small groups to civilizations, and ecosystems could be viewed from such a point of view. Are these examples just parts of a greater hierarchy which at a certain level also includes the human brain? In other words, what other non-linear interactions in nature, apart from the ones mediated by chemical neurotransmitters, could be responsible for formation of intelligent systems at different temporal and spatial scales?

## 9 Discussion and open questions

1. Experimental status. What would be the experimental strategy to observe P-machines of the brain? Since neuron itself is a P-machine, the question applies to the macroscopic P-machine containing large number of neurons.

Pattern recognition and excitation networks in the brain might be difficult to isolate. These networks could be overlapped, interleaved and entangled in the brain tissues. Moreover, at least in principle, same neurons can participate in many different circuits by switching inputs on and off using different synapses, which could significantly increase the number of excitation (and recognition) patterns attainable with a given number of neurons. This could created difficulties for direct experimental observation of such networks. Still the following questions arise: Can the networks described in chapter 7.2 or their analogs be actually identified in the human brain? Do there exist training delay networks connecting, for example, sound recognition with the sound excitation circuits in the brain which could be observed experimentally?

Other evidence could be based on injuries and ablations. For example, ablations in Wernicke’s and Broka’s areas result in different types of speech and thought impairments. Does it shed any light on the neural P-machine hierarchy organization in the brain apart from the mere location of the impaired functions?

Our numerous experiences tell us that we enjoy certain repeating activities and patterns. Does the reason for this lie in the (resonance) excitation of patterns of activity in the brain? Examples of such resonance excitations would be music, poetry, dancing and other activities with their characteristic repeating sounds and rhythms. Do the consonant and dissonant chords which are characterized by sound frequency ratios equal to certain prime numbers open a window into the workings of the brain? Can excitation modes of some of the brain’s neural networks be characterized by ratios of prime numbers in the ways similar to the mathematical description of linear resonatorls, among them sound modes of strings and membranes?
2. d-networks play an important role in translating recognized patterns into the training sets for excitation networks, not just passive delay elements synchronizing pattern recognition - excitation training processes. Details of this translation are not clear at this time and need further investigation.
3. The notion of scale plays the central role in modern science. It gave rise to such ideas in theoretical physics and mathematics as renormalization and wavelet analysis. What is the analog of scale in the world of patterns? One possible answer to this question is: the number of hierarchical levels in the pattern, which could be considered its complexity. The structure of the Fig. 7 is capable of recognizing complex patterns on its inputs and generating complex responses to them. It scales in the sense that patterns of higher complexity can be handled with correspondingly larger number of levels consisting of blocks of Fig. 2. One can make one more step in determining the brain’s coarse grained degrees of freedom and try these structures for the role of the building blocks of the brain.
4. Two papers considering how people play games were recently published , , which further substantiate the idea that games are played by humans as pattern excitations in response to patterns recognized in positions, not by mere calculating next moves. This is different from the traditional Artificial Intelligence (AI) approach in which games are played based on the analysis of the position tree arising from different moves. Which approach is ultimately more powerful in situations where computing or network resources are limited is an open question, however the latest chess games between the human world champion and computers show that computers seem to be winning. In my view this could be attributed to the limit of number of specific game patterns the human player comes across during his playing experience, and therefore the number of recognizable game patterns and excitation modes which could be trained over the human lifetime.
5. Emotions represent excitation patterns which have the ability to modify the work of other pattern recognition and generating networks. Subconsciousness could be viewed as the set of excitation patterns, which are excited in response to their stimuli, but which people are not necessarily aware of. These excitations, being modes of non-linear resonators, could give rise to or block other excitations in various parts of the system, leading to various, sometimes undesired consequences ,. From the point of view of this paper, psycho-analysis is a way to re-train the blocking processing pathways, or bypass them altogether by creating new ones.
6. The number of recognized and excitable patterns in living organisms is limited by the available resources of their nervous systems. Given the average time scale of learning to recognize and excite a pattern, there are only limited number of patterns an organism can potentially learn and excite over its lifetime. The need in the number of patterns is also limited by the lifetime needs of the organism. As new conditions arise in the environment, organisms learn to recognize them and develop new excitation patterns to generate responses. Discovery of new patterns in nature which are important for living organisms is a very laborious process. In the process of evolution new levels of the hierarchy are added to the neural networks to make organisms more adaptable to various environmental challenges.
7. Ideas discussed in this paper could be applied to various fields such as understanding and treatment of mental and neurological diseases, education, artificial intelligence systems and so on. However, for practical applications, many properties of the pattern excitation neural networks and their training will have to be studied in great details. These studies must involve both identification of the pattern excitation networks in nervous systems, analytical investigation and computer simulations of such networks.

Acknowledgment I would like to thank A.Portnoy and K.Wickman for their encouragement and support.


text:
# Deep Searches for High Redshift Molecular Absorption

## 1. Introduction

Webb et al. (these proceedings) discussed constraints on possible variations in fundamental constants offered by quasar absorption lines. Optical studies (Webb et al. 1999; Murphy et al. 2003) find a statistically significant variation of the fine-structure constant, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha (0.54\pm 0.12)\times 10^5`$, over the redshift range $`0.2<z_{\mathrm{abs}}<3.7`$. Comparison between H i-21cm and molecular rotational (millimetre) absorption lines can yield an order of magnitude better precision (per absorption system) than these purely optical constraints (Drinkwater et al. 1998; Carilli et al. 2000; Murphy et al. 2001): a statistical sample of H i-21cm/mm comparisons will provide an important cross-check on varying-$`\alpha `$. Currently, however, only 4 such redshifted millimetre absorption systems are known (Wiklind, these proceedings). To increase this number we have employed the following search strategies:

1. Deep integrations of damped Lyman-alpha absorbers (DLAs), the highest column density ($`N_{\mathrm{HI}}\stackrel{>}{_{}}10^{20}`$ cm-2) quasar absorbers known. Since we observe at a known redshift and therefore frequency, optical depth limits better than $`\tau \stackrel{<}{_{}}0.1`$ are often obtained. The DLA results are discussed in detail by Curran et al. (2004).
2. Scanning the frequency space towards visually dim millimetre bright quasars in search of a possible absorber responsible for the visual obscuration. Here we summarise our results as obtained with the Swedish-ESO Sub-millimetre Telescope (SEST) and Nobeyama Radio Observatory’s 45-m telescope (NRO).

## 2. Results

From an extensive literature search we selected four millimetre-loud quasars yet to be optically identified (Table 1, top).

For each of these we performed a spectral scan along the line-of-sight. The high sensitivity and large bandwidth (1 GHz), combined with the possibility of observing simultaneously with two receivers, permitted us to scan a range of $`10`$ GHz in both the 2-mm and 3-mm bands. Over these ranges we reached optical depth limits in both bands sensitive enough the detect the 4 known redshifted millimetre absorbers (Table 1 cf. $`\tau 0.7\mathrm{to}2`$ at $`\stackrel{>}{_{}}4`$ $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ resolution), although no $`3\sigma `$ absorption features were found (Murphy, Curran & Webb 2003).

Of the remaining visually dim quasars, 10 have 3-mm flux densities $`\stackrel{>}{_{}}0.5`$ Jy. Four of these are located in the north and with the NRO111The fact that each of the 6 AOSs on the NRO only covers 0.25 GHz is compensated by the high efficiency of the 45-m antenna (4 Jy K-1 cf. 25 Jy K-1 at SEST). we were able to observe the three listed in Table 1. While the 6-mm limits are poor, again at 3-mm our search is sensitive enough to detect the 4 known absorbers over the observed redshift range: For the $`J=01`$, $`12`$ and $`23`$ of transitions CO, HCN and HCO+, i.e. the most commonly detected transitions in the 4 known absorbers, the observed frequencies give a 50% coverage for 0742+103 up to $`z3`$ and 30% for both 1600+335 and 1655+077 up to the emission redshift222Note that we have included the possibility of HCN or HCO+ $`01`$ Galactic absorption towards all 3 sources as well as HCN or HCO+ $`12`$ in the host of 1600+335.. The coverage for the SEST sources are discussed in Murphy, Curran & Webb (2003); for the above transitions up to 90% is achieved due to the large bandwidth and dual receiver capability.

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text:
# Intracluster Stellar Population

## 1. Introduction: Discovery of diffuse light in clusters

Stars are usually observed to form in galaxies (disks, dwarfs and starbursts). In nearby galaxy clusters, however, a diffuse intracluster stellar component has been detected from deep imaging and observations of individual intracluster stars.

Intracluster light (ICL) is potentially of great interest for studies of galaxy and galaxy cluster evolution. The dynamical evolution of cluster galaxies involves complex and imperfectly understood processes such as galactic encounters, cluster accretion, and tidal stripping. Various studies have suggested that between 10% and 50% of a cluster’s total luminosity may be contained in the ICL, with a strong dependence on the dynamical state of the cluster. The properties of the ICL may also be sensitive to the distribution of dark matter in cluster galaxies, as simulations have shown that the structure of DM halos in galaxies plays a central role in the formation and evolution of tidal debris (Dubinski et al. 1999).

Recently some progress has been made in the study of intracluster star light on several fronts. Individual intracluster stars, including planetary nebulae detected from the ground and red giants detected using HST, have been discovered in the Virgo cluster. These intracluster (IC) stars give the promise of studying in detail the kinematics, metallicity and age of the intracluster stellar population in nearby galaxy clusters and thereby learning about the origin of this diffuse stellar component, and the details of the cluster origin.

## 2. Intracluster light: an historical perspective

The first studies on this subject date back to the work of Zwicky (1951) on the luminosity function of galaxies in the Coma cluster. In his work, Zwicky pointed out that vast and irregular swarms of stars existed in the spaces between the standard galaxies in Coma, and commented whether they could be incorporated into the distribution function of known galaxy types. Zwicky’s efforts were then followed by photographic surveys for diffuse light in Coma and other rich clusters in the 1970s; in the 1990s, CCD photometry provided the first accurate measurements in Coma, as described by Bernstein et al. (1995).

Two kind of problems affect these experiments: (a) the typical surface brightness of intracluster light (ICL) is less than 1% of the typical sky brightness, and (b) it is difficult to disentangle between diffuse light associated with the halo of the cD galaxy at the cluster center and the diffuse light component.

Since 1995, wide-field cameras equipped with a CCD mosaic have allowed accurate measurements of diffuse light in the Abell clusters. This stellar component is traced by tails, arcs and/or plumes with typical $`\mu _B=27.8`$ mag arcsec-2, very narrow ($`2`$kpc) and extended ($`100`$ kpc) in Coma and Centaurus (Gregg & West 1998, Threntam & Mobasher 1998, Calcáneo-Roldán et al. 2000). In addition, different groups have measured the radial surface brightness profile of the extended cD halos out to very large cluster radii. These measurements were carried out for the Abell cluster 1651 (Gonzalez et al. 2000), Abell 1413 & MKW7 (Feldmeier et al. 2002) and for the compact group HGC90 (White et al. 2003). Quoting from Uson et al. (1991), “ …whether this diffuse light is called the cD envelope or diffuse intergalactic light is a matter of semantics: it is a diffuse component which is distributed with elliptical symmetry about the center of the cluster potential”. All these independent measurements place the lower limit to the fraction of diffuse light in clusters with respect to the amount of light in individual galaxies to 20%.

### 2.1. Direct detection of IC stars

An alternative method for probing ICL is through the direct detection and measurements of the stars themselves.

The detection of intergalactic supernovae was first reported by Smith (1981): a SN1a was observed in the Virgo cluster, in the region between M86 and M84. In 2003, Gam-Yam et al. (2003) observed two SN1a in Abell 403 ($`z=0.10`$) and in Abell 2122/4 ($`z=0.066`$) . Both events appear projected on the halos of the central cDs, no other obvious hosts are present, but these stars have a substantial velocity offset (750 - 2000 km s-1) from the cD systemic velocity suggesting that they are not bound to it, but are free-flying in the cluster potential. Gam-Yam and collaborators estimate that 20% of the SN1a parent stellar population in clusters is intergalactic.

In 1995, West and collaborators argued that a population of intergalactic globular clusters (IGCs) exists in all clusters and are concentrated towards the center (West et al. 1995). High values of the GC frequency ($`S_N`$) in cDs is then the results of the accretion of a number of IGCs. Independent evidence was acquired by Coté et al. (2001) around M87, where they concluded that the metal poor GCs were not formed in situ, but stripped from the Virgo cluster dwarfs. In the cluster Abell 1185, Jordàn et al. (2003) searched for a population of IGCs, in a field centered on the peak of the cluster’s X-ray emission, which contains no bright galaxies. An excess of point like sources is found with respect to HDF North, which Jordàn and collaborators associate with a population of IGCs. Bassino et al. (2003) also reported on the discovery of IGC candidates in the Fornax cluster.

In the IC regions, an additional kind of stellar cluster is found. Drinkwater et al. (2003) discovered Ultra-compact dwarfs (UDCs) in the Fornax cluster; they are nucleated dwarf galaxies whose outer envelopes were stripped by interactions with the cD, at the cluster center.

Direct observations of stars in Virgo IC fields were carried out by Ferguson, Tanvir & von Hippel in 1998 with HST. The presence of intracluster red giant stars (IRGBs) was inferred from the excess of red number counts in a Virgo IC field with respect to the HDF North. By comparing the I-band star counts into two Virgo cluster fields with similar observations for a metal-poor nucleated dwarf elliptical, Durrell et al. (2002) found an offset between the RGB tip of the IRGBs and that in the dwarf. Their interpretation is that the bulk of the IRGBs are moderately metal rich $`(0.8<[Fe/H]<0.2)`$. The surface brightness associated with the IRGB counts is $`\mu _L=27.9`$ mag arcsec-2, and it amounts to 15% of the Virgo cluster galaxy I band luminosity.

Are these stars tidally stripped from galaxies during the early phases of cluster collapse, or are they removed gradually over time via “galaxy harassment”? Do all of these stars have parent galaxies or do they form in situ? The recent discovery of an isolated compact HII region in the Virgo cluster (Gerhard et al. 2002) has shown that some star-formation activity can indeed take place in the outskirts of galaxy halos if not already in Virgo IC space.

## 3. Intracluster Planetary Nebulae as tracers of cluster evolution

Intracluster planetary nebulae (ICPNe) have several unique features that make them ideal for probing ICL. The diffuse envelope of a PN re-emits 15% of the UV light of the central star in one bright optical emission line, the green \[OIII\]$`\lambda 5007`$ Å line. PNe can therefore readily be detected in external galaxies out to distances of 25 Mpc and their velocities can be determined from moderate resolution $`(\lambda /\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda 5000)`$ spectra: this enables kinematical studies of the IC stellar population.

PNe trace stellar luminosity and therefore provide an estimate of the total IC light. Also, through the \[OIII\] $`\lambda 5007`$ Å planetary nebulae luminosity function (PNLF), PNe are good distance indicators, and the observed shape of the PNLF provides information on the line of sight distribution of the IC starlight.

ICPNe are useful tracers to study the spatial distribution, kinematics, and metallicity of the diffuse stellar population in nearby clusters. Different cluster formation mechanisms predict different spatial distributions and velocity distributions for the IC stars. If most of the IC light originates in the initial cluster collapse (Merritt 1984), its distribution and kinematics should follow closely that of galaxies in the cluster. On the other hand, if the IC light builds slowly with time because of “galaxy harassment” (Moore et al. 1996) and “tidal stirring” (Mayer et al. 2001) , then a fraction of IC light may still be located in long streams along the orbits of the parent galaxies, and dynamically unmixed structures should be easily visible in phase space, see the analog in the Milky way (Helmi 2001).

### 3.1. Narrow-band wide-field surveys

Several groups (Arnaboldi et al. 2002, 2003; Feldmeier et al. 1998, 2003; Okamura et al. 2002) have embarked on a narrow-band \[OIII\] imaging survey in the Virgo cluster, with the aim of determining the radial density profile of the diffuse light, and gaining information on the velocity distribution via subsequent spectroscopic observations of the obtained samples. Given the use of the PNLF as distance indicators, one also acquires valuable information on the 3D shape of the Virgo cluster from these ICPN samples, see also Feldmeier et al. (1998).

Wide-field mosaic cameras, such as the WFI on the ESO MPI 2.2m telescope and the Suprime Cam on the Subaru 8.2m, allow us to identify the ICPNe associated with the extended ICL (Arnaboldi et al. 2002, 2003; Okamura et al. 2002): a layout of the fields’ position on the DSS image of the Virgo core region are shown on Figure 1. These surveys require the use of data reduction techniques suited for mosaic images, and also the development and refining of selection criteria based on color-magnitude diagrams (CMD) produced with SExtractor.

In Arnaboldi et al. (2002), the on-band/off-band \[OIII\] imaging technique which has been used for PNe identification in Virgo and Fornax ellipticals has been translated into the following selection criteria for the most reliable detection of ICPN candidates:

1. the source should be unresolved;
2. the source should have an emission line $`EW>100`$ Å. This is evaluated by measuring the (\[OIII\] - V) color between a detected object in the on-band \[OIII\] image and the signal in the corresponding position in the off-band V image. The $`EW`$ criterion corresponds to a filter-dependent color excess relative to field stars;
3. there should be no source detected in the V-band image at the position of the detected \[OIII\] source.

The requirement on EW greatly reduces the contamination from \[OII\] starburst emitters at $`z0.35`$. The color selection must take into account the photometric errors in the final on-image, via simulation of unresolved sources.

## 4. Spectroscopic confirmation and first results

Since the early spectroscopic detections of ICPNe by Arnaboldi et al. (1996), the spectroscopic follow-up of the Feldmeier et al. (1998) Virgo ICPN sample, carried out by Freeman et al. (2000) using 2dF at the Anglo-Australian Telescope, showed that most of the emission line sources in this sample are indeed ICPNe, because the combined spectrum of all the “sharp line” emitters clearly showed the \[OIII\] 4959/5007 Å doublet. In 2002, a high S/N spectrum for a single ICPN in the Virgo cluster, shown in Figure 2, was obtained for the first time at the VLT-UT4 with FORS2 by Arnaboldi et al. (2003). We conclude that the existence of ICPNe in the Virgo cluster is now beyond doubt.

Why then did the spectroscopic study by Kudritzki et al. (2000) find only background galaxies? The answer lies in examination of the luminosity function (LF) of their objects. The LF of the candidates studied by Kudritzki et al. (2000) follows closely the LF of field Ly$`\alpha `$ emitters at $`z=3.1`$; see Figure 2.

One can compare the LF for the Ly$`\alpha `$ emitters with the LF for the spectroscopically confirmed ICPNe. These confirmed ICPNe are mostly brighter than the brightest of the Ly$`\alpha `$ emitters shown in Figure 2. The brightest of the emission line candidates studied by Kudritzki et al. (2000) is 0.5 mag fainter than the bright cutoff in the PNLF for M87, and 0.8 mag fainter than the bright cutoff for the spectroscopically confirmed ICPNe in the Virgo cluster. Most of the current ICPN candidates in Virgo are within 1 mag of the bright cutoff in the PNLF. This is the reason why Kudritzki et al. did not find ICPNe. Their sample was dominated by the Ly$`\alpha `$ emitters which are more abundant at fainter magnitudes. (See also Arnaboldi et al. 2002).

The bright cut-off of the LF for the Virgo ICPNe is about 0.3 mag brighter than for the PNe in individual Virgo galaxies. This is believed to be due to the elongated structure of the Virgo cluster, as previously found for the distribution of Virgo spiral galaxies using the Tully-Fisher relation.

What is the fraction of Ly$`\alpha `$ emitters in the first magnitude of the LF for the Virgo ICPN samples? When Arnaboldi et al. (2002) computed the fraction of Ly$`\alpha `$ emitters which can contaminate the ICPN candidate sample selected as outlined in Section 3.1, it amounts to about 15% of the observed sample. This estimate is supported by the empty field survey of Castro-Rodriguez et al. (2003).

## 5. Properties of the diffuse light in Virgo cluster

A primary goal is to estimate the fraction of light from intracluster stars in the surveyed region of the Virgo cluster. In our $`0.25`$ deg2 field at a distance of $`1^{}`$ from the cluster center, the ICPN sample indicates a total associated luminosity of $`5.87.5\times 10^9`$ LB,⊙, which corresponds to a surface luminosity of $`0.330.57`$ LB,⊙ pc-2 or a surface brightness of $`\mu _{B,}=2827.7`$ mag arcsec-2. As discussed by Arnaboldi et al. (2002), over the range of radii probed by the survey fields, the luminosity surface density of galaxies in Virgo decreases by a factor of $`3`$, while that for the ICPNe is nearly constant. Therefore, from the data available so far, the ICPNe in Virgo are not centrally concentrated; however we need to investigate fields at larger radii to constrain the total amount of IC light.

One needs to compare the luminosity derived for the diffuse population with the luminous contribution from Virgo galaxies. If ICPNe are produced by phenomena acting locally, as the structure in the ICPN distribution shown in Okamura et al. (2002) seems to support, then the fraction of diffuse light with respect to the computed light in galaxies in the field is about 10%. On the other hand, comparing the IC surface brightness with the smoothed out surface brightness of galaxies from Bingelli et al. (1987) gives an upper limit of about 40%.

Is the diffuse light in the Virgo cluster distributed uniformly? Recent discoveries of low surface brightness arcs in other nearby clusters, as discussed in Section 2, significant field-to-field variations in the number density of Virgo ICPNe, and the remarkably inhomogeneous distribution of ICPNe in the field surveyed by Okamura et al. (2002), see Figure 3, have demonstrated that intracluster stars are not distributed uniformly.

An emission line survey carried out on an empty field in the Leo group, using the same selection criteria as adopted for the Virgo cluster survey, gives an upper limit on the diffuse surface luminosity of $`4.4\times 10^3`$ LB,⊙ pc-2, corresponding to a surface brightness limit $`\mu _{B,}>32.8`$ mag arcsec-2 (Castro-Rodriguez et al. 2003). This empty field survey, observed at the peak of the HI distribution in the Leo intra-group cloud, gives an upper limit on the fraction of diffuse light in this intra group field of $`<1.6\%`$. The evidence coming from the Leo group is very interesting because it shows that the fraction of diffuse light vs. light in individual galaxies that we find in Virgo is related to the Virgo cluster and its evolution. It does not appear to be a general physical property of the local universe. All independent measurements carried out in the Virgo cluster IC fields place the lower limit to the fraction of diffuse light to 10% of the light in individual galaxies.

## 6. Intracluster stellar population properties from N-body cosmological simulations

Napolitano et al. (2003) used a high resolution simulation of a Virgo-like cluster in a $`\mathrm{\Lambda }CDM`$ cosmology to predict the velocity and the clustering properties of the diffuse stellar component in the intracluster region at the present epoch. The simulated cluster builds up hierarchically and tidal interactions between member galaxies and the cluster potential produce a diffuse stellar component free-flying in the intracluster medium. At the end of the simulation, the total cluster mass is $`3\times 10^{14}M_{}`$. 0.5 million particles are within the cluster virial radius; each particle has a mass of $`0.5\times 10^9M_{}`$ and the spatial resolution is 2.5 kpc.

Napolitano and collaborators adopt an empirical scheme to identify tracers of the stellar component in the simulation and hence study its properties. Stellar tracers are those particles in the simulation within local over-densities higher than $`10^4\times \rho _{crit}`$ at any given time before $`z>0.25`$, which is considered the epoch when star formation stopped in the cluster. The size of an over-density region with $`12000\times \rho _{crit}`$ has a linear dimension of 15 kpc at $`z=0`$, and 12 kpc at $`z=3`$: this simple criterion selects particles in the central regions of dark halos whose size is comparable to galaxy luminous parts. The conversion from stellar-mass-particle to ICPNe is based on the assumption that at $`z=0`$ the luminous $`M/L`$ ratio of the harassed stellar matter is that of an evolved stellar population, like that of M31, and the number of ICPNe for a given stellar-mass are derived from an $`M/L6`$ and the luminosity-specific PN density $`\alpha _{1,B}=9.4\times 10^9\text{PN\hspace{0.17em}L}_{,B}^1`$ (Ciardullo et al. 1989).

Napolitano et al. (2003) find that at $`z=0`$ the ICL is mostly dynamically unmixed and clustered in structures on scales of about 50 kpc at a radius of $`400500`$ kpc from the cluster center: the two-dimensional phase space diagrams, see Figure 4, show filaments, cluster of particles and large empty regions, while dark matter particles are not clustered in the same fields. The simulations predict the radial velocity distribution expected in spectroscopic follow-up surveys. When they compare the spatial clustering in the simulation with the properties of the Virgo IC stellar population, a substantial agreement is found.

## 7. Conclusions

Surface brightness photometry and direct detection of individual stars give an estimate for the fraction of diffuse light in rich clusters: it amounts to $`20\%`$ of the light in individual cluster galaxies. In the nearby universe, the results obtained so far from ICPNe samples in the Virgo cluster have shown that the fraction of the diffuse light in the cluster amounts to 10%-40%, the intracluster stars are not centrally condensed and not uniformly distributed and the front edge of the Virgo cluster is about 20% closer to us than M87.

A high-resolution collisionless N-body simulation of a Virgo-like cluster at $`z=0`$ (Napolitano et al. 2003) predicts strong substructure in phase-space, so the next goal will be to look for substructure in the radial velocity distribution of ICPN candidates in Virgo. The VLT instruments, FLAMES and VIMOS, will be most important in giving us the radial velocity distribution of the stars in the diffuse component, identifying individual streams, and providing us with samples of the phase space for the diffuse component at different cluster radii. These observational results will be compared with N-body high resolution cosmological simulations and in this way we should be able to determine how old dynamically the diffuse light is.

#### Acknowledgments.

MA wishes to thank all her collaborators, without whom these results could not have been achieved. MA thanks the Scientific Organizing Committee for the Invitation to give this review at the IAU Symposium n. 217, and gratefully acknowledge the IAU for financial support, and the INAF grant for National Projects.

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