New research in our limbo group (Ryom and Treves, Phys Rev X Life, 2023, and unpublished) and extensive data on language parameters collected by Longobardi and collaborators (Ceolin et al, Phil Trans Roy Soc B, 2021) suggest that language diversity may reflect the disordered freezing dynamics that in a spin glass leads to a multiplicity of ground states. In a simplified model, vectors of binary syntactic parameters interact via strong asymmetric logical implications and weak partly symmetric influences, which can produce critical slowing down through a novel mechanism of percolated freezing. A postdoc position is available at SISSA, in Trieste, to carry this project further into uncharted territory, see https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.03152. Whatever their background, candidates should be keen to develop new mathematical and computational statistical approaches to evolutionary neuro-linguistics and enjoy learning about issues and narratives in scientific communities other than their own. A formal call with deadline Dec 10th, 2023 will be issued shortly. Meanwhile, check https://people.sissa.it/~ale/limbo.html and write to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> for inquiries.
---------------------------------------------- Alessandro Treves Liminar Investigations of Memory and Brain Organization Cognitive Neuroscience, SISSA, Trieste, Italy +39 349 2504602 http://people.sissa.it/~ale/limbo.html
