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Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics and the Free Energy Principle in Biology

Palacios, Patricia and Colombo, Matteo (2021) Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics and the Free Energy Principle in Biology. [Preprint]

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Abstract

According to the free energy principle, life is an “inevitable and emergent property of any (ergodic) random dynamical system at non-equilibrium steady state that possesses a Markov blanket” (Friston 2013). Formulating a principle for the life sciences in terms of concepts from statistical physics, such as random dynamical system, non-equilibrium steady state and ergodicity, places substantial constraints on the theoretical and empirical study of biological systems. Thus far, however, the physics foundations of the free energy principle have received hardly any attention. Here, we start to fill this gap and analyse some of the challenges raised by applications of statistical physics for modelling biological targets. Based on our analysis, we conclude that model-building grounded in the free energy principle exacerbates a trade-off between generality and realism, because of a fundamental mismatch between its physics assumptions andthe properties of actual biological targets.


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Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Palacios, Patriciapatricia.palacios@sbg.ac.at
Colombo, Matteom.colombo@uvt.nl
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Biology
General Issues > Models and Idealization
Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
Depositing User: Dr. Matteo Colombo
Date Deposited: 22 Apr 2021 03:53
Last Modified: 22 Apr 2021 03:53
Item ID: 18926
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Biology
General Issues > Models and Idealization
Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
Date: April 2021
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/18926

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