This paper is an attempt to reconcile Bayesian and non-Bayesian approaches to statistical inference, by casting both in terms of a broader formalism. In particular, this paper is an attempt to show that when one extends coventional Bayesian analysis to distinguish the truth from one's guess for...

We argue that in classical and quantum theories of gravity the configuration space and Hilbert space may not be constructible through any finite procedure. If this is the case, then the ``problem of time'' in quantum cosmology may be a pseudo-problem, because the argument that time disappears...

This paper develops the concepts and methods of a process we will call "alignment of computational models" of "docking" for short. Alignment is needed to determine whether two models can produce the same results, which in turn is the basis for critical experiments and for tests of whether one...

Fitness landscapes are an important concept in molecular evolution. Many important examples of landscapes in physics and combinatorial optimization, which are widely used as model landscapes in simulations of molecular evolution and adaptation, are "elementary," i.e., they are (up to an additive...

A number of authors have in recent years proposed that the processes of macroevolution may give rise to self-organized critical phenomena which could have a significant effect on the dynamics of ecosystems. In particular, it has been suggested that mass extinction may arise through a purely...

Throughout scientific research, measured time series are the basis for characterizing an observed system and for predicting its future behavior. A number of new techniques (such as state-space reconstruction and neural networks) promise insights that traditional approaches to these very old...

This paper explores the evolution of the cross-section income distribution in economies where endogenous neighborhood formation interacts with positive within-neighborhood feedback effects. We study an economy in which the economic success of adults is determined by the characteristics of the...

Rainforests are legendary because of their extreme species richness. In the richest rain forests every second tree on a hectare is a different species. As a consequence, most species are rare. Using field data from studies in different parts of the world, we show that species-rich plots often...

Secondary structures of nucleic acids are a particularly interessting class of contact structures. Many important RNA molecules contain pseudoknots, which are excluded explicitly by the definition of secondary structures. We propose here a generalization of secondary structures that incorporates...

The use of the term ``landscapes'' is increasing rapidly in the field of evolutionary computation, yet in many cases it remains poorly, if at all, defined. This situtation has perhaps developed because everyone grasps the imagery immediately, and the questions that would be asked of a less...