Invited Paper MI+2D+EM+NS-MoA8
Organismic Materials and Intelligence

Monday, October 22, 2018, 3:40 pm, Room 201A

Intelligence in the natural world is panspermic to life, ranging from basic survival skills in non-neural organisms to co-operative foraging and complex mating strategies in higher level animals. We ask the question whether such remarkable features can be implemented in the physical world utilizing adaptive matter. We have identified strongly correlated semiconductors, one class of quantum materials as particularly suited for this effort, owing to their remarkable electronic plasticity. One may refer to these systems as organismic materials that display certain well-defined characteristics of living beings. In this presentation, we will present examples from the animal kingdom focusing on intelligence and episodic memory. Then we will discuss recent collaborative studies on correlated oxides demonstrating ancestral intelligence. We will conclude with examples of neural networks that can be designed with quantum materials that can replicate fundamental animal learning traits. The role of defects, strain and orbital occupancy control in design of electronic plasticity will be highlighted.