From mathematics to the humanities and biology, there are many concepts and questions related to chance. What are the different types of chance? Does chance correspond to a lack of knowledge about the causes of events, or is there a truly intrinsic and irreducible chance? Does chance preside over our decisions? Does it govern evolution? Is it at the origin of life? What part do chance and necessity play in biology?
This book answers these fundamental questions by bringing together the clear and richly documented contributions of mathematicians, physicists, biologists and philosophers who make this book an incomparable tool for work and reflection.
Table of Contents
Preface xi
Thierry GAUDIN, Marie-Christine MAUREL, Jean-Charles POMEROL
Introduction xv
Thierry GAUDIN, Marie-Christine MAUREL, Jean-Charles POMEROL
Part 1. Randomness in all of its Aspects 1
Chapter 1. Classical, Quantum and Biological Randomness as Relative Unpredictability 3
Cristian S. CALUDE and Giuseppe LONGO
1.1. Introduction 3
1.1.1. Brief historical overview 4
1.1.2. Preliminary remarks 5
1.2. Randomness in classical dynamics 6
1.3. Quantum randomness 8
1.4. Randomness in biology 15
1.5. Random sequences: a theory invariant approach 21
1.6. Classical and quantum randomness revisited 24
1.6.1. Classical versus algorithmic randomness 24
1.6.2. Quantum versus algorithmic randomness 26
1.7. Conclusion and opening: toward a proper biological randomness 27
1.8. Acknowledgments 30
1.9. References 30
Chapter 2. In The Name of Chance 37
Gilles PAGÈS
2.1. The birth of probabilities and games of chance 37
2.1.1. Solutions 38
2.1.2. To what end? 40
2.2. A very brief history of probabilities 41
2.3. Chance? What chance? 42
2.4. Prospective possibility 45
2.4.1. LLN + CLT + ENIAC = MC 45
2.4.2. Generating chance through numbers 46
2.4.3. Going back the other way 48
2.4.4. Prospective possibility as master of the world? 50
2.5. Appendix: Congruent generators, can prospective chance be periodic? 53
2.5.1. A little modulo n arithmetic 53
2.5.2. From erratic arithmetic to algorithmic randomness 56
2.5.3. And, the winner is... Mersenne Twister 623.. 60
2.6. References 61
Chapter 3. Chance in a Few Languages 63
Clarisse HERRENSCHMIDT
3.1. Classical Sanskrit 64
3.2. Persian and Arabic 65
3.3. Ancient Greek 66
3.4. Russian 67
3.5. Latin 67
3.6. French 69
3.7. English 71
3.8. Dice, chance and the symbolic world 72
3.9. References 77
Chapter 4. The Collective Determinism of Quantum Randomness 79
François VANNUCCI
4.1. True or false chance 79
4.2. Chance sneaks into uncertainty 81
4.3. The world of the infinitely small 82
4.4. A more figurative example 84
4.5. Einstein’s act of resistance 86
4.6. Schrödinger’s cat to neutrino oscillations 87
4.7. Chance versus the anthropic principle 90
4.8. And luck in life? 92
4.9. Chance and freedom 94
Chapter 5. Wave-Particle Chaos to the Stability of Living 97
Stéphane DOUADY
5.1. Introduction 97
5.2. The chaos of the wave-particle 97
5.3. The stability of living things 104
5.4. Conclusion 107
5.5. Acknowledgments 108
5.6. References 108
Chapter 6. Chance in Cosmology: Random and Turbulent Creation of Multiple Cosmos 109
Michel CASSÉ
6.1. Is quantum cosmology oxymoronic? 109
6.2. Between two realities - at the entrance and exit - is virtuality 120
6.3. Who will sing the metamorphoses of this high vacuum? 120
6.4. Loop lament 121
6.5. The quantum vacuum exists, Casimir has met it 122
6.6. The generosity of the quantum vacuum 122
6.7. Landscapes 126
6.8. The good works of Inflation 128
6.9. Sub species aeternitatis 129
6.10. The smiling vacuum 130
Chapter 7. The Chance in Decision: When Neurons Flip a Coin 133
Mathias PESSIGLIONE
7.1. A very subjective utility 133
7.2. A minimum rationality 134
7.3. There is noise in the choices 135
7.4. On the volatility of parameters 137
7.5. When the brain wears rose-tinted glasses 138
7.6. The neurons that take a vote 140
7.7. The will to move an index finger 142
7.8. Free will in debate 143
7.9. The virtue of chance 144
7.10. References 145
Chapter 8. To Have a Sense of Life: A Poetic Reconnaissance 147
Georges AMAR
8.1. References 157
Chapter 9. Divine Chance 159
Bertrand VERGELY
9.1. Thinking by chance 159
9.2. Chance, need: why choose? 160
9.3. When chance is not chance 162
9.4. When chance comes from elsewhere 166
Chapter 10. Chance and the Creative Process 169
Ivan MAGRIN-CHAGNOLLEAU
10.1. Introduction 169
10.2. Chance 170
10.3. Creation 173
10.4. Chance in the artistic creative process 176
10.5. An art of the present moment 179
10.6. Conclusion 181
10.7. References 182
Part 2. Randomness, Biology and Evolution 185
Chapter 11. Epigenetics, DNA and Chromatin Dynamics: Where is the Chance and Where is the Necessity? 187
David SITBON and Jonathan B. WEITZMAN
11.1. Introduction 187
11.2. Random combinations 187
11.3. Random alterations 188
11.4. Beyond the gene 189
11.5. Epigenetic variation 190
11.6. Concluding remarks 192
11.7. Acknowledgments 193
11.8. References 193
Chapter 12. When Acquired Characteristics Become Heritable: The Lesson of Genomes 197
Bernard DUJON
12.1. Introduction 197
12.2. Horizontal genetic exchange in prokaryotes 199
12.3. Two specificities of eukaryotes theoretically oppose horizontal gene transfer 200
12.4. Criteria for genomic analysis 201
12.5. Abundance of horizontal transfers in unicellular eukaryotes 202
12.6. Remarkable horizontal genetic transfers in pluricellular eukaryotes 203
12.7. Main mechanisms of horizontal genetic transfers 204
12.8. Introgressions and limits to the concept of species 207
12.9. Conclusion 208
12.10. References 208
Chapter 13. The Evolutionary Trajectories of Organisms are Not Stochastic 213
Philippe GRANDCOLAS
13.1. Evolution and stochasticity: a few metaphors 213
13.2. The Gouldian metaphor of the “replay” of evolution 214
13.3. The replay of evolution: what happened 215
13.4. Evolutionary replay experiments 217
13.5. Phylogenies versus experiments 218
13.6. Stochasticity, evolution and extinction 219
13.7. Conclusion 219
13.8. References 220
Chapter 14. Evolution in the Face of Chance 221
Amaury LAMBERT
14.1. Introduction 221
14.2. Waddington and the concept of canalization 224
14.3. A stochastic model of Darwinian evolution 228
14.3.1. Redundancy and neutral networks 228
14.3.2. A toy model 229
14.3.3. Mutation-selection algorithm 231
14.4. Numerical results 231
14.4.1. Canalization 231
14.4.2. Target selection 234
14.4.3. Neighborhood selection 235
14.5. Discussion 238
14.6. Acknowledgments 239
Chapter 15. Chance, Contingency and the Origins of Life: Some Historical Issues 241
Antonio LAZCANO
15.1. Acknowledgments 246
15.2. References 246
Chapter 16. Chance, Complexity and the Idea of a Universal Ethics 249
Jean-Paul DELAHAYE
16.1. Cosmic evolution and advances in computation 250
16.2. Two notions of complexity 251
16.3. Biological computations 252
16.4. Energy and emergy 253
16.5. What we hold onto 254
16.6. Noah knew this already! 254
16.7. Create, protect and collect 255
16.8. An ethics of organized complexity 255
16.9. Not so easy 256
16.10. References 258
List of Authors 261
Index 265
