papers

Publications (116)

q-bio.MN2018

Algorithmic Complexity and Reprogrammability of Chemical Structure Networks

Hector Zenil, Narsis A. Kiani, Ming-Mei Shang +1

Here we address the challenge of profiling causal properties and tracking the transformation of chemical compounds from an algorithmic perspective. We explore the potential of appl…

q-bio.OT2026

Similarity Analysis of Blood Count Reference Intervals Across Continents Reveals No Reproducible Population or Geography-Linked Structure and Supports Personalised Values

Kunlin Wu, Abicumaran Uthamacumaran, Hector Zenil

Blood reference intervals (RIs) underpin diagnostic interpretation and therapeutic monitoring worldwide. However, many widely used RI systems originate from limited historical coho…

q-bio.MN2018

Predictive Systems Toxicology

Narsis A. Kiani, Ming-Mei Shang, Hector Zenil +1

In this review we address to what extent computational techniques can augment our ability to predict toxicity. The first section provides a brief history of empirical observations…

cs.IT2017

Low Algorithmic Complexity Entropy-deceiving Graphs

Hector Zenil, Narsis Kiani, Jesper Tegnér

In estimating the complexity of objects, in particular of graphs, it is common practice to rely on graph- and information-theoretic measures. Here, using integer sequences with pro…

cs.OH2016

Undecidability and Irreducibility Conditions for Open-Ended Evolution and Emergence

Santiago Hernández-Orozco, Francisco Hernández-Quiroz, Hector Zenil

Is undecidability a requirement for open-ended evolution (OEE)? Using methods derived from algorithmic complexity theory, we propose robust computational definitions of open-ended…

cs.CC2015

Algorithmic complexity for psychology: A user-friendly implementation of the coding theorem method

Nicolas Gauvrit, Henrik Singmann, Fernando Soler-Toscano +1

Kolmogorov-Chaitin complexity has long been believed to be impossible to approximate when it comes to short sequences (e.g. of length 5-50). However, with the newly developed \emph…

cs.IT2023

A Simplicity Bubble Problem in Formal-Theoretic Learning Systems

Felipe S. Abrahão, Hector Zenil, Fabio Porto +3

When mining large datasets in order to predict new data, limitations of the principles behind statistical machine learning pose a serious challenge not only to the Big Data deluge,…

cs.LG2024

Leveraging Pre-Trained Neural Networks to Enhance Machine Learning with Variational Quantum Circuits

Jun Qi, Chao-Han Yang, Samuel Yen-Chi Chen +3

Quantum Machine Learning (QML) offers tremendous potential but is currently limited by the availability of qubits. We introduce an innovative approach that utilizes pre-trained neu…

cs.AI2018

Algorithmic Causal Deconvolution of Intertwined Programs and Networks by Generative Mechanism

Hector Zenil, Narsis A. Kiani, Allan A. Zea +1

Complex data usually results from the interaction of objects produced by different generating mechanisms. Here we introduce a universal, unsupervised and parameter-free model-orien…

q-fin.ST2014

On the Complexity and Behaviour of Cryptocurrencies Compared to Other Markets

Daniel Wilson-Nunn, Hector Zenil

We show that the behaviour of Bitcoin has interesting similarities to stock and precious metal markets, such as gold and silver. We report that whilst Litecoin, the second largest…

cs.IT2013

Correspondence and Independence of Numerical Evaluations of Algorithmic Information Measures

Fernando Soler-Toscano, Hector Zenil, Jean-Paul Delahaye +1

We show that real-value approximations of Kolmogorov-Chaitin (K_m) using the algorithmic Coding theorem as calculated from the output frequency of a large set of small deterministi…

cs.ET2018

On complexity of post-processing in analyzing GATE-driven X-ray spectrum

Neda Gholami, Mohammad Mahdi Dehshibi, Mahmood Fazlali +3

Computed Tomography (CT) imaging is one of the most influential diagnostic methods. In clinical reconstruction, an effective energy is used instead of total X-ray spectrum. This ap…

cs.IT2011

An Algorithmic Approach to Information and Meaning

Hector Zenil

I will survey some matters of relevance to a philosophical discussion of information, taking into account developments in algorithmic information theory (AIT). I will propose that…

cs.NE2019

Controllability, Multiplexing, and Transfer Learning in Networks using Evolutionary Learning

Rise Ooi, Chao-Han Huck Yang, Pin-Yu Chen +5

Networks are fundamental building blocks for representing data, and computations. Remarkable progress in learning in structurally defined (shallow or deep) networks has recently be…

cs.CC2013

Algorithmic Complexity for Short Binary Strings Applied to Psychology: A Primer

Nicolas Gauvrit, Hector Zenil, Jean-Paul Delahaye +1

Since human randomness production has been studied and widely used to assess executive functions (especially inhibition), many measures have been suggested to assess the degree to…

q-bio.OT2025

Systematic Reconstruction of Disease Networks from Longitudinal Blood Data for Causal Discovery and Intervention Analysis

David Patrick Duys Montealegre, Alexander Fulton, Mahta Haghighat Ghahfarokhi +2

We explore the hyperparameters and introduce a methodological framework to convert disease patterns from time series data of blood test results into correlation graphs for causal h…

cs.CC2012

Computer Runtimes and the Length of Proofs: On an Algorithmic Probabilistic Application to Waiting Times in Automatic Theorem Proving

Hector Zenil

This paper is an experimental exploration of the relationship between the runtimes of Turing machines and the length of proofs in formal axiomatic systems. We compare the number of…

cs.CC2012

On the Dynamic Qualitative Behaviour of Universal Computation

Hector Zenil

We explore the possible connections between the dynamic behaviour of a system and Turing universality in terms of the system's ability to (effectively) transmit and manipulate info…

cs.IT2014

Calculating Kolmogorov Complexity from the Output Frequency Distributions of Small Turing Machines

Fernando Soler-Toscano, Hector Zenil, Jean-Paul Delahaye +1

Drawing on various notions from theoretical computer science, we present a novel numerical approach, motivated by the notion of algorithmic probability, to the problem of approxima…

q-fin.TR2010

An algorithmic information-theoretic approach to the behaviour of financial markets

Hector Zenil, Jean-Paul Delahaye

Using frequency distributions of daily closing price time series of several financial market indexes, we investigate whether the bias away from an equiprobable sequence distributio…

cs.CC2013

Exploring Programmable Self-Assembly in Non-DNA based Molecular Computing

German Terrazas, Hector Zenil, Natalio Krasnogor

Self-assembly is a phenomenon observed in nature at all scales where autonomous entities build complex structures, without external influences nor centralised master plan. Modellin…

q-bio.OT2026

Multi-omic Enriched Blood-Derived Digital Signatures Reveal Mechanistic and Confounding Disease Clusters for Differential Diagnosis

Bolin Liu, Abicumaran Uthamacumaran, Alexander Fulton +1

Understanding disease relationships through blood biomarkers offers a pathway toward data-driven taxonomy and precision medicine. In this study, we constructed a digital blood twin…

nlin.CG2018

Asymptotic Behaviour and Ratios of Complexity in Cellular Automata

Hector Zenil

We study the asymptotic behaviour of symbolic computing systems, notably one-dimensional cellular automata (CA), in order to ascertain whether and at what rate the number of comple…

cs.IT2010

Towards a stable definition of Kolmogorov-Chaitin complexity

Jean-Paul Delahaye, Hector Zenil

Although information content is invariant up to an additive constant, the range of possible additive constants applicable to programming languages is so large that in practice it p…

q-bio.QM2025

Exhaustive Investigation of CBC-Derived Biomarker Ratios for Clinical Outcome Prediction: The RDW-to-MCHC Ratio as a Novel Mortality Predictor in Critical Care

Dmytro Leontiev, Abicumaran Uthamacumaran, Riya Nagar +1

Ratios of common biomarkers and blood analytes are well established for early detection and predictive purposes. Early risk stratification in critical care is often limited by the…

q-bio.MN2017

HiDi: An efficient reverse engineering schema for large scale dynamic regulatory network reconstruction using adaptive differentiation

Yue Deng, Hector Zenil, Jesper Tégner +1

The use of differential equations (ODE) is one of the most promising approaches to network inference. The success of ODE-based approaches has, however, been limited, due to the dif…

cs.CC2011

Empirical Encounters with Computational Irreducibility and Unpredictability

Hector Zenil, Fernando Soler-Toscano, Joost J. Joosten

There are several forms of irreducibility in computing systems, ranging from undecidability to intractability to nonlinearity. This paper is an exploration of the conceptual issues…

cs.AI2015

The Information-theoretic and Algorithmic Approach to Human, Animal and Artificial Cognition

Nicolas Gauvrit, Hector Zenil, Jesper Tegnér

We survey concepts at the frontier of research connecting artificial, animal and human cognition to computation and information processing---from the Turing test to Searle's Chines…

math.LO2012

Très courte enquête sur l'extension non-triviale de la logique de propositions à la logique du premier et deuxième ordre

Hector Zenil

The formal construction of the second-order logic or predicate calculus essentially adds quantifiers to propositional logic. Why second-order logic cannot be reduced to that of the…

q-bio.OT2025

XGBoost-Powered Digital Twins Leverage Routine Blood Tests for Early Detection of Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease

Lo Kai Shun John, Riya Nagar, Abicumaran Uthamacumaran +1

Early detection of cancer and cardiovascular diseases is fundamental to improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare expenditure. Current cancer screening programs are target…

cs.AI2015

Natural scene statistics mediate the perception of image complexity

Nicolas Gauvrit, Fernando Soler-Toscano, Hector Zenil

Humans are sensitive to complexity and regularity in patterns. The subjective perception of pattern complexity is correlated to algorithmic (Kolmogorov-Chaitin) complexity as defin…

cs.CC2011

Complejidad descriptiva y computacional en maquinas de Turing pequenas

Joost J. Joosten, Fernando Soler-Toscano, Hector Zenil

We start by an introduction to the basic concepts of computability theory and the introduction of the concept of Turing machine and computation universality. Then se turn to the ex…

cs.CC2012

Turing Patterns with Turing Machines: Emergence and Low-level Structure Formation

Hector Zenil

Despite having advanced a reaction-diffusion model of ODE's in his 1952 paper on morphogenesis, reflecting his interest in mathematical biology, Alan Turing has never been consider…

q-bio.QM2025

Complexity-Informed Causal Modeling of Neurodevelopmental Trajectories in Pediatric High-Grade Gliomas: Divergences from Neural Stem Cell Signatures

Abicumaran Uthamacumaran, Hector Zenil

Pediatric high grade gliomas are lethal evolutionary disorders with stalled developmental trajectories and disrupted differentiation hierarchies. We integrate transcriptional and a…

cs.AI2025

Advancing the Scientific Method with Large Language Models: From Hypothesis to Discovery

Yanbo Zhang, Sumeer A. Khan, Adnan Mahmud +10

With recent Nobel Prizes recognising AI contributions to science, Large Language Models (LLMs) are transforming scientific research by enhancing productivity and reshaping the scie…

cs.IT2026

On the Limits of Self-Improving in Large Language Models: The Singularity Is Not Near Without Symbolic Model Synthesis

Hector Zenil

We formalise recursive self-training in Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI as a discrete-time dynamical system. We prove that if the proportion of exogenous, externally…

cs.IT2017

A Computable Measure of Algorithmic Probability by Finite Approximations with an Application to Integer Sequences

Fernando Soler-Toscano, Hector Zenil

Given the widespread use of lossless compression algorithms to approximate algorithmic (Kolmogorov-Chaitin) complexity, and that lossless compression algorithms fall short at chara…

cs.CC2010

On the Algorithmic Nature of the World

Hector Zenil, Jean-Paul Delahaye

We propose a test based on the theory of algorithmic complexity and an experimental evaluation of Levin's universal distribution to identify evidence in support of or in contravent…

cs.IT2013

A Behavioural Foundation for Natural Computing and a Programmability Test

Hector Zenil

What does it mean to claim that a physical or natural system computes? One answer, endorsed here, is that computing is about programming a system to behave in different ways. This…

cs.IT2011

Numerical Evaluation of Algorithmic Complexity for Short Strings: A Glance into the Innermost Structure of Randomness

Jean-Paul Delahaye, Hector Zenil

We describe an alternative method (to compression) that combines several theoretical and experimental results to numerically approximate the algorithmic (Kolmogorov-Chaitin) comple…

cs.CC2016

Fractal dimension versus process complexity

Joost J. Joosten, Fernando Soler-Toscano, Hector Zenil

Complexity measures are designed to capture complex behavior and quantify *how* complex, according to that measure, that particular behavior is. It can be expected that different c…

q-bio.QM2025

Neurosymbolic Learning for Predicting Cell Fate Decisions from Longitudinal Single Cell Transcriptomics in Paediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Abicumaran Uthamacumaran, Hector Zenil

Paediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia is a complex adaptive ecosystem with high morbidity. Current trajectory inference algorithms struggle to predict causal dynamics in AML progressio…

cs.IT2018

A Decomposition Method for Global Evaluation of Shannon Entropy and Local Estimations of Algorithmic Complexity

Hector Zenil, Santiago Hernández-Orozco, Narsis A. Kiani +2

We investigate the properties of a Block Decomposition Method (BDM), which extends the power of a Coding Theorem Method (CTM) that approximates local estimations of algorithmic com…

cs.NE2007

On the possible Computational Power of the Human Mind

Hector Zenil, Francisco Hernandez-Quiroz

The aim of this paper is to address the question: Can an artificial neural network (ANN) model be used as a possible characterization of the power of the human mind? We will discus…

cs.IT2019

The Thermodynamics of Network Coding, and an Algorithmic Refinement of the Principle of Maximum Entropy

Hector Zenil, Narsis A. Kiani, Jesper Tegnér

The principle of maximum entropy (Maxent) is often used to obtain prior probability distributions as a method to obtain a Gibbs measure under some restriction giving the probabilit…

q-bio.MN2015

Methods of Information Theory and Algorithmic Complexity for Network Biology

Hector Zenil, Narsis A. Kiani, Jesper Tegnér

We survey and introduce concepts and tools located at the intersection of information theory and network biology. We show that Shannon's information entropy, compressibility and al…

cs.CC2018

Symmetry and Algorithmic Complexity of Polyominoes and Polyhedral Graphs

Hector Zenil, Narsis A. Kiani, Jesper Tegnér

We introduce a definition of algorithmic symmetry able to capture essential aspects of geometric symmetry. We review, study and apply a method for approximating the algorithmic com…

q-bio.MN2016

Evaluating Network Inference Methods in Terms of Their Ability to Preserve the Topology and Complexity of Genetic Networks

Narsis A. Kiani, Hector Zenil, Jakub Olczak +1

Network inference is a rapidly advancing field, with new methods being proposed on a regular basis. Understanding the advantages and limitations of different network inference meth…

cs.IT2025

Assembly Theory Reduced to Shannon Entropy and Rendered Redundant by Naive Statistical Algorithms

Luan Ozelim, Abicumaran Uthamacumaran, Felipe S. Abrahão +4

Assembly Theory (AT) and its central measure, the assembly index (Ai), represent an invaluable opportunity to address some of the most persistent and widespread conflations and mis…

cs.IT2024

Fractal spatio-temporal scale-free messaging: amplitude modulation of self-executable carriers given by the Weierstrass function's components

Hector Zenil, Luan Carlos de Sena Monteiro

In many communication contexts, the capabilities of the involved actors cannot be known beforehand, whether it is a cell, a plant, an insect, or even a life form unknown to Earth.…

cs.CC2011

Compression-based investigation of the dynamical properties of cellular automata and other systems

Hector Zenil

A method for studying the qualitative dynamical properties of abstract computing machines based on the approximation of their program-size complexity using a general lossless compr…

cs.IT2025

An Optimal, Universal and Agnostic Decoding Method for Message Reconstruction, Bio and Technosignature Detection

Hector Zenil, Alyssa Adams, Felipe S. Abrahão +1

We present an agnostic signal reconstruction method for zero-knowledge one-way communication channels in which a receiver aims to interpret a message sent by an unknown source abou…

cs.DM2023

Algorithmic information distortions and incompressibility in uniform multidimensional networks

Felipe S. Abrahão, Klaus Wehmuth, Hector Zenil +1

This article presents a theoretical investigation of generalized encoded forms of networks in a uniform multidimensional space. First, we study encoded networks with (finite) arbit…

q-bio.OT2018

An Algorithmic Information Calculus for Causal Discovery and Reprogramming Systems

Hector Zenil, Narsis A. Kiani, Francesco Marabita +5

We demonstrate that the algorithmic information content of a system is deeply connected to its potential dynamics, thus affording an avenue for moving systems in the information-th…

cs.ET2017

Slime mould: the fundamental mechanisms of cognition

Jordi Vallverdu, Oscar Castro, Richard Mayne +7

The slime mould Physarum polycephalum has been used in developing unconventional computing devices for in which the slime mould played a role of a sensing, actuating, and computing…

cs.IT2021

Computable Model Discovery and High-Level-Programming Approximations to Algorithmic Complexity

Vladimir Lemusa, Eduardo Acuña, Víctor Zamora +2

Motivated by algorithmic information theory, the problem of program discovery can help find candidates of underlying generative mechanisms of natural and artificial phenomena. The…

cs.IT2018

Coding-theorem Like Behaviour and Emergence of the Universal Distribution from Resource-bounded Algorithmic Probability

Hector Zenil, Liliana Badillo, Santiago Hernández-Orozco +1

Previously referred to as `miraculous' in the scientific literature because of its powerful properties and its wide application as optimal solution to the problem of induction/infe…

cs.CC2012

Some Computational Aspects of Essential Properties of Evolution and Life

Hector Zenil, James A. R. Marshall

While evolution has inspired algorithmic methods of heuristic optimisation, little has been done in the way of using concepts of computation to advance our understanding of salient…

cs.NE2016

Causality, Information and Biological Computation: An algorithmic software approach to life, disease and the immune system

Hector Zenil, Angelika Schmidt, Jesper Tegnér

Biology has taken strong steps towards becoming a computer science aiming at reprogramming nature after the realisation that nature herself has reprogrammed organisms by harnessing…

q-bio.MN2015

Quantifying Loss of Information in Network-based Dimensionality Reduction Techniques

Hector Zenil, Narsis A. Kiani, Jesper Tegnér

To cope with the complexity of large networks, a number of dimensionality reduction techniques for graphs have been developed. However, the extent to which information is lost or p…

q-bio.QM2018

Training-free Measures Based on Algorithmic Probability Identify High Nucleosome Occupancy in DNA Sequences

Hector Zenil, Peter Minary

We introduce and study a set of training-free methods of information-theoretic and algorithmic complexity nature applied to DNA sequences to identify their potential capabilities t…

cs.CC2011

Un metodo estable para la evaluacion de la complejidad algoritmica de cadenas cortas

Hector Zenil, Jean-Paul Delahaye

It is discussed and surveyed a numerical method proposed before, that alternative to the usual compression method, provides an approximation to the algorithmic (Kolmogorov) complex…

cs.CY2017

Reprogramming Matter, Life, and Purpose

Hector Zenil

Reprogramming matter may sound far-fetched, but we have been doing it with increasing power and staggering efficiency for at least 60 years, and for centuries we have been paving t…

q-bio.QM2026

Patterns in Individual Blood Count Trajectories in the UK Biobank Characterise Disease-Specific Signatures and Anticipate Pan-Cancer Risk

Riya Nagar, Abicumaran Uthamacumaran, Adelaide de Vecchi +1

We investigate the longitudinal behaviour of blood markers from common haematological tests as a marker of disease and as a function of disease progression in a variety of conditio…

cs.IT2024

On sequential structures in incompressible multidimensional networks

Felipe S. Abrahão, Klaus Wehmuth, Hector Zenil +1

In order to deal with multidimensional structure representations of real-world networks, as well as with their worst-case irreducible information content analysis, the demand for n…

cs.CE2017

Algorithmic Data Analytics, Small Data Matters and Correlation versus Causation

Hector Zenil

This is a review of aspects of the theory of algorithmic information that may contribute to a framework for formulating questions related to complex highly unpredictable systems. W…

cs.IT2015

Numerical Investigation of Graph Spectra and Information Interpretability of Eigenvalues

Hector Zenil, Narsis A. Kiani, Jesper Tegnér

We undertake an extensive numerical investigation of the graph spectra of thousands regular graphs, a set of random Erdös-Rényi graphs, the two most popular types of complex netw…

cs.AI2023

The Future of Fundamental Science Led by Generative Closed-Loop Artificial Intelligence

Hector Zenil, Jesper Tegnér, Felipe S. Abrahão +17

Recent advances in machine learning and AI, including Generative AI and LLMs, are disrupting technological innovation, product development, and society as a whole. AI's contributio…

cs.AI2022

Simulation Intelligence: Towards a New Generation of Scientific Methods

Alexander Lavin, David Krakauer, Hector Zenil +21

The original "Seven Motifs" set forth a roadmap of essential methods for the field of scientific computing, where a motif is an algorithmic method that captures a pattern of comput…

cs.NE2020

Evolving Neural Networks through a Reverse Encoding Tree

Haoling Zhang, Chao-Han Huck Yang, Hector Zenil +3

NeuroEvolution is one of the most competitive evolutionary learning frameworks for designing novel neural networks for use in specific tasks, such as logic circuit design and digit…

cs.DL2025

A Quantitative Approach to Estimating Bias, Favouritism and Distortion in Scientific Journalism

Raghavendra Koushik, Hector Zenil

While traditionally not considered part of the scientific method, science communication is increasingly playing a pivotal role in shaping scientific practice. Researchers are now f…

cs.IT2014

Correlation of Automorphism Group Size and Topological Properties with Program-size Complexity Evaluations of Graphs and Complex Networks

Hector Zenil, Fernando Soler-Toscano, Kamaludin Dingle +1

We show that numerical approximations of Kolmogorov complexity (K) applied to graph adjacency matrices capture some group-theoretic and topological properties of graphs and empiric…

cs.IT2024

Non-Random Data Encodes its Geometric and Topological Dimensions

Hector Zenil, Felipe S. Abrahão, Luan C. S. M. Ozelim

Based on the principles of information theory, measure theory, and theoretical computer science, we introduce a signal deconvolution method with a wide range of applications to cod…

nlin.CG2013

Computation and Universality: Class IV versus Class III Cellular Automata

Genaro J. Martinez, Juan C. Seck-Tuoh-Mora, Hector Zenil

This paper examines the claim that cellular automata (CA) belonging to Class III (in Wolfram's classification) are capable of (Turing universal) computation. We explore some chaoti…

cs.LG2019

Algorithmic Probability-guided Supervised Machine Learning on Non-differentiable Spaces

Santiago Hernández-Orozco, Hector Zenil, Jürgen Riedel +3

We show how complexity theory can be introduced in machine learning to help bring together apparently disparate areas of current research. We show that this new approach requires l…

cs.LG2026

Measuring in-context algorithmic reasoning in language models against an exact Bayes-optimal standard

Hector Zenil, Luan Ozelim

Whether large language models perform genuine algorithmic reasoning or mere pattern completion is hard to test, because most benchmarks lack a ground truth for correct inductive in…

cs.IT2024

Assembly Theory is an approximation to algorithmic complexity based on LZ compression that does not explain selection or evolution

Felipe S. Abrahão, Santiago Hernández-Orozco, Narsis A. Kiani +2

We prove the full equivalence between Assembly Theory (AT) and Shannon Entropy via a method based upon the principles of statistical compression renamed `assembly index' that belon…

cs.AI2014

Quantifying Natural and Artificial Intelligence in Robots and Natural Systems with an Algorithmic Behavioural Test

Hector Zenil

One of the most important aims of the fields of robotics, artificial intelligence and artificial life is the design and construction of systems and machines as versatile and as rel…

cs.FL2018

Cross-boundary Behavioural Reprogrammability Reveals Evidence of Pervasive Universality

Jürgen Riedel, Hector Zenil

We exhaustively explore the reprogrammability capabilities and the intrinsic universality of the Cartesian product of the space of all possible computer programs o…

q-bio.QM2022

Approximations of Algorithmic and Structural Complexity Validate Cognitive-behavioural Experimental Results

Hector Zenil, James A. R. Marshall, Jesper Tegnér

Being able to objectively characterise the intrinsic complexity of behavioural patterns resulting from human or animal decisions is fundamental for deconvolving cognition and desig…

cs.CC2010

On Universality in Real Computation

Hector Zenil

Models of computation operating over the real numbers and computing a larger class of functions compared to the class of general recursive functions invariably introduce a non-fini…

cs.IT2024

On the Salient Limitations of the Methods of Assembly Theory and their Classification of Molecular Biosignatures

Abicumaran Uthamacumaran, Felipe S. Abrahão, Narsis A. Kiani +1

We demonstrate that the assembly pathway method underlying assembly theory (AT) is an encoding scheme widely used by popular statistical compression algorithms. We show that in all…

cs.DS2025

Minimal Algorithmic Information Loss Methods for Dimension Reduction, Feature Selection and Network Sparsification

Hector Zenil, Narsis A. Kiani, Alyssa Adams +5

We present a novel, domain-agnostic, model-independent, unsupervised, and universally applicable Machine Learning approach for dimensionality reduction based on the principles of a…

cs.IT2021

Emergence and algorithmic information dynamics of systems and observers

Felipe S. Abrahão, Hector Zenil

Previous work has shown that perturbation analysis in software space can produce candidate computable generative models and uncover possible causal properties from the finite descr…

cs.IT2020

A Review of Methods for Estimating Algorithmic Complexity: Options, Challenges, and New Directions

Hector Zenil

Some established and also novel techniques in the field of applications of algorithmic (Kolmogorov) complexity currently co-exist for the first time and are here reviewed, ranging…

cs.LG2025

Binarized Neural Networks Converge Toward Algorithmic Simplicity: Empirical Support for the Learning-as-Compression Hypothesis

Eduardo Y. Sakabe, Felipe S. Abrahão, Alexandre Simões +4

Understanding and controlling the informational complexity of neural networks is a central challenge in machine learning, with implications for generalization, optimization, and mo…

cs.OH2021

A Computable Piece of Uncomputable Art whose Expansion May Explain the Universe in Software Space

Hector Zenil

At the intersection of what I call uncomputable art and computational epistemology, a form of experimental philosophy, we find an exciting and promising area of science related to…

cs.LO2015

Rare Speed-up in Automatic Theorem Proving Reveals Tradeoff Between Computational Time and Information Value

Santiago Hernández-Orozco, Francisco Hernández-Quiroz, Hector Zenil +1

We show that strategies implemented in automatic theorem proving involve an interesting tradeoff between execution speed, proving speedup/computational time and usefulness of infor…

q-bio.QM2026

Integrative Adaptive Indexes from Noisy Routine Haematological Markers can Predict and Discriminate Health Status and Biological Age

Santiago Hernández-Orozco, Abicumaran Uthamacumaran, Francisco Hernández-Quiroz +2

For more than two decades, advances in personalised medicine and precision healthcare have largely been based on genomics and other omics data. These strategies aim to tailor inter…

cs.CC2011

Program-Size Versus Time Complexity, Speed-Up and Slowdown Phenomena in Small Turing Machines

Joost J. Joosten, Fernando Soler-Toscano, Hector Zenil

The aim of this paper is to undertake an experimental investigation of the trade-offs between program-size and time computational complexity. The investigation includes an exhausti…

math.PR2011

Sloane's Gap. Mathematical and Social Factors Explain the Distribution of Numbers in the OEIS

Nicolas Gauvrit, Jean-Paul Delahaye, Hector Zenil

The Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (OEIS) is made up of thousands of numerical sequences considered particularly interesting by some mathematicians. The graphic represent…

cs.IT2011

The World is Either Algorithmic or Mostly Random

Hector Zenil

I will propose the notion that the universe is digital, not as a claim about what the universe is made of but rather about the way it unfolds. Central to the argument will be the c…

cs.CC2010

On the Kolmogorov-Chaitin Complexity for short sequences

Jean-Paul Delahaye, Hector Zenil

A drawback of Kolmogorov-Chaitin complexity (K) as a function from s to the shortest program producing s is its noncomputability which limits its range of applicability. Moreover,…

nlin.CG2012

Wolfram's Classification and Computation in Cellular Automata Classes III and IV

Genaro J. Martinez, J. C. Seck-Tuoh-Mora, Hector Zenil

We conduct a brief survey on Wolfram's classification, in particular related to the computing capabilities of Cellular Automata (CA) in Wolfram's classes III and IV. We formulate a…

cs.NE2016

Interacting Behavior and Emerging Complexity

Alyssa Adams, Hector Zenil, Eduardo Hermo Reyes +1

Can we quantify the change of complexity throughout evolutionary processes? We attempt to address this question through an empirical approach. In very general terms, we simulate tw…

cs.CC2014

Turing Minimalism and the Emergence of Complexity

Hector Zenil

Not only did Turing help found one of the most exciting areas of modern science (computer science), but it may be that his contribution to our understanding of our physical reality…

cs.NE2016

Formal Definitions of Unbounded Evolution and Innovation Reveal Universal Mechanisms for Open-Ended Evolution in Dynamical Systems

Alyssa M Adams, Hector Zenil, Paul CW Davies +1

Open-ended evolution (OEE) is relevant to a variety of biological, artificial and technological systems, but has been challenging to reproduce in silico. Most theoretical efforts f…

nlin.CG2018

Rule Primality, Minimal Generating Sets, Turing-Universality and Causal Decomposition in Elementary Cellular Automata

Jürgen Riedel, Hector Zenil

We introduce several concepts such as prime and composite rule, tools and methods for causal composition and decomposition. We discover and prove new universality results in ECA, n…

cs.GL2014

Levels of Abstraction and the Apparent Contradictory Philosophical Legacy of Turing and Shannon

Hector Zenil

In a recent article, Luciano Floridi explains his view of Turing's legacy in connection to the philosophy of information. I will very briefly survey one of Turing's other contribut…

cs.AI2026

Can Complexity and Uncomputability Explain Intelligence? SuperARC: A Test for Artificial Super Intelligence Based on Recursive Compression

Alberto Hernández-Espinosa, Luan Ozelim, Felipe S. Abrahão +1

We introduce an increasing-complexity, open-ended, and human-agnostic metric to evaluate foundational and frontier AI models in the context of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)…