Invariants for neural automata
This work addresses a foundational issue in neurosymbolic computing by providing tools to avoid confounding results in regression studies with real-world measurements, though it is incremental in building on existing neural automata frameworks.
The study tackled the problem of distinguishing intrinsic dynamics from encoding-dependent artifacts in neural automata by developing a mathematical framework for analyzing symmetries and invariants under different encodings, showing that only step functions defined over patterns of equality are invariant while the mean activation is not.
Computational modeling of neurodynamical systems often deploys neural networks and symbolic dynamics. A particular way for combining these approaches within a framework called vector symbolic architectures leads to neural automata. An interesting research direction we have pursued under this framework has been to consider mapping symbolic dynamics onto neurodynamics, represented as neural automata. This representation theory, enables us to ask questions, such as, how does the brain implement Turing computations. Specifically, in this representation theory, neural automata result from the assignment of symbols and symbol strings to numbers, known as Gödel encoding. Under this assignment symbolic computation becomes represented by trajectories of state vectors in a real phase space, that allows for statistical correlation analyses with real-world measurements and experimental data. However, these assignments are usually completely arbitrary. Hence, it makes sense to address the problem question of, which aspects of the dynamics observed under such a representation is intrinsic to the dynamics and which are not. In this study, we develop a formally rigorous mathematical framework for the investigation of symmetries and invariants of neural automata under different encodings. As a central concept we define patterns of equality for such systems. We consider different macroscopic observables, such as the mean activation level of the neural network, and ask for their invariance properties. Our main result shows that only step functions that are defined over those patterns of equality are invariant under recodings, while the mean activation is not. Our work could be of substantial importance for related regression studies of real-world measurements with neurosymbolic processors for avoiding confounding results that are dependant on a particular encoding and not intrinsic to the dynamics.