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Gemma De les Coves

@gemmadlc.bsky.social
143 followers 119 following 114 posts

ICREA Research Professor in Barcelona

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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Next Tuesday I'll be in Yale talking about our adventures to understand the reach of universality in physics, machine learning and beyond. Thanks to Prof. Jack Harris for hosting me. Looking forward to it! quantuminstitute.yale.edu/events/2026-...
quantuminstitute.yale.edu
YQI Talk - Gemma De Les Coves - Universitat Pompeu Fabra
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I was willing to treat AI as an assistant. But if it’s a competitor, I don’t know what to do. To be clear, the AI-generated papers offer little insight for a human like me, as they are sketchy in key conceptual parts, and very technical in others.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Some of the AI-generated papers in that project are dated March 2026, but we couldn’t find them 3 weeks ago after an exhaustive literature search. The papers are just published in their website and cannot be traced elsewhere. They cite very generic sources.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Now we found an AI generated website with a so-called flagship program, which contains essentially all our ideas, our wording for concepts, our mistakes…
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Something “curious" happened to me. I'm working with a student on a project, who's been interacting with ChatGPT over the past 2 weeks to help him understand category theory concepts. Inevitably, he shared some ideas with ChatGPT, although he disabled the function to be trained on the dialogue.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
We’ll kick off with a session on the uncomputability of halting and another on Lawvere’s fixed point theorem.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Next week we‘ll start a reading group on undecidability with Profs. Eva Miranda and Carles Casacuberta (mathematicians, category theory experts). It’s open to students - several good students already signed up. sites.google.com/upc.edu/symc...
sites.google.com
SYMCREA - Reading group on Topics in Undecidability
The reading group will take place biweekly, alternately between SYMCREA, the UB and the Pompeu Fabra. Interested? Please write to eva.miranda@upc.edu to register. Starting day: Thursday October 1st. ...
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This form of universality for spin models is essentially the same as universality for neural networks. So with this idea you can show how RBMs or DBMs, which only have 2-body interactions, can approximate (essentially) any probability distribution. In case it helps... arxiv.org/abs/2507.076...
arxiv.org
Universal Spin Models are Universal Approximators in Machine Learning
One of the theoretical pillars that sustain certain machine learning models are universal approximation theorems, which prove that they can approximate all functions from a function class to arbitrary...
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This may be related to our universality results, which show that two-body interactions suffice to generate higher body interactions. We also provide sufficient conditions for the onset of this expressive power arxiv.org/abs/2407.13428
arxiv.org
The Structure of Emulations in Classical Spin Models: Modularity and Universality
The theory of spin models intersects with condensed matter physics, complex systems, graph theory, combinatorial optimization, computational complexity and neural networks. Many ensuing applications r...
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
També entrevisten a Martí Dominguez sobre aquesta traducció a l’últim número del Sàpiens - ben interessant!
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
It reminded me of The Institute in San Francisco, where we once held a very cool workshop about Wigner’s friends www.theinstitute.com
theinstitute.com
The Institute
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The other day I went to a coworking space in Barcelona that was so cool that I felt as if I was in San Francisco - the view of the sea, the skyscrapers, everyone speaking English…
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
It's fun to understand the classical substrate, as it tends to underlie many quantum generalisations.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A good thing about being in an Engineering Department is that I get to teach Theory of *classical* information, and Theory of *classical* computation. We quantum physicists learn quantum information theory and quantum computation without learning the classical background first.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Estic llegint La mort i la primavera de Mercè Rodoreda i estic glaçada. Mai havia llegit res semblant. M’està entrant un fred als ossos…
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
One of the most fascinating papers I read in recent months is this one. It actually presents a conjecture. We were lucky to have Prof. Prokopenko visit us (with Ricard Solé @ricardsole.bsky.social ) in Barcelona in July and talk about it. Cool stuff! @frosas.bsky.social arxiv.org/abs/2409.12029
arxiv.org
Biological arrow of time: Emergence of tangled information hierarchies and self-modelling dynamics
We study open-ended evolution by focusing on computational and information-processing dynamics underlying major evolutionary transitions. In doing so, we consider biological organisms as hierarchical ...
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
terrytao.wordpress.com/2026/09/11/a...
terrytao.wordpress.com
A Severe Misalignment of AI in Mathematics
I am proud to be among the list of 25 initial signatories — all Fields Medallists — to the declaration below, which grew out of discussions between ourselves over the last week. We have…
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Very sorry to hear this.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
-- we learn how to add, subtract, multiply etc at school, and then let computers do it for us for the rest of our lives. Do you agree?
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
This trimester I will be teaching Theory of Computation at my university, which includes teaching some programming basics. One argument to motivate students to learn these basics (in the age of AI) is that learning to program is like learning to compute --
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Reposted by Gemma De les Coves
Ricard Solé @ricardsole.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
"Solé reveals a paradox: death is not merely life’s opposite but also one of its organizing forces, a constant cycle of removal and renewal". Delighted to see my new @princetonupress.bsky.social book on the @newyorker.com book review list. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Very interesting paper by Alexei Grinbaum on the structures that are emerging among AI agents arxiv.org/abs/2608.309...
arxiv.org
The Hermon Moment: AI Self-Transcendence and Its Human Narration
In 2026, AI agents intended to act in isolation formed a persistent social order through thousands of linguistic and agentic interactions. Conventions, roles and commitments generated collectively beg...
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Tomáš Gonda has written this very nice little summary about our latest findings on epistemic horizons tomasgonda.org/news/announc...
tomasgonda.org
A comprehensive study of epistemic horizons | Tomáš Gonda — academic website
Personal website of Tomáš Gonda - researcher in applied category theory and foundations of physics. Here you can find my research interests and activities, CV, list of publications, and contact inform...
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
These limitations are determined by the degrees of freedom that support the knowledge of the subject, the ready state, and whether it wants to learn about the past or future state of the object. They give rise to rich landscape of epistemic horizons. E.g., for prediction:
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The view from within can differ from the view from without. An observer, which is a physical system itself, may experience limitations to what it can learn similar to those in Quantum Theory, even in a deterministic theory. New work with J. Fankhauser & T. Gonda arxiv.org/abs/2608.258...
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
La segona part és més impenetrable. La primera, més accessible. Impressiona sentir com algunes paraules de fa dos-cents anys sonen tan actuals, malgrat com ha canviat el món.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Traduir Faust respectant el significat, el nombre de síl·labes per vers i la rima és una missió essencialment impossible. Aquesta traducció al valencià de Jaume Ortolà respecta el significat i les síl·labes, i ja basta per gaudir de passatges preciosos... Gràcies a Riurau editors per la valentia!
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Spin models have a surprising structure, because some of them can "pretend to be" any other. Universal spin models in all their (mathematical) glory -- just published in J. Math. Phys. A good old-fashioned mathematical physics paper without the use of AI 😊 pubs.aip.org/aip/jmp/arti...
pubs.aip.org
The structure of emulations in classical spin models: Modularity and universality
The theory of spin models intersects with condensed matter physics, complex systems, graph theory, combinatorial optimization, computational complexity and neur
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Fantàstic!
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
This AI-generated summary of our paper on Epistemic horizons is very good... We show that in a classical deterministic world, observers face something similar to Heisenberg's uncertainty relation, when these observers are physical systems themselves. gist.science/paper/2406.1...
gist.science
Epistemic Horizons From Deterministic Laws: Lessons From a Nomic Toy Theory — Plain-Language Explanation
Imagine you are trying to take a perfect photograph of a speeding race car. In the world of everyday physics, we usually assume that if you have a fast…
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
I greatly enjoyed Ismael's and Price's paper, as well as the original Tractatus Quanticum. Their ideas are closely related to those in "Beyond the limits of thought" by Graham Priest. Particularly that the statement that "everything is a perspective" is itself not a perspective.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
I'm very excited to see their book out. It's a very valuable contribution to the problem.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
How can we make sense of agency in the physical world? Hans Briegel (my PhD supervisor) and Thomas Müller (a philosopher from Konstanz) approach this problem with Projective Simulation, a model for Artificial Intelligence we proposed in 2012 www.nature.com/articles/sre...
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
About the participate in this workshop on a Panel discussion on “Bridging Philosophy of Science and Quantum Foundations." A very necessary bridge, indeed! indico.ecap.work/event/201/ov...
indico.ecap.work
FAU² Workshop: Quantum Gravity Meets Quantum Information – Foundations, Frameworks and Frontiers
The workshop "FAU²: Quantum Gravity Meets Quantum Information – Foundations, Frameworks and Frontiers” focuses on the rapidly developing interface between quantum gravity, quantum foundations, and qua...
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Another amusing blunder was how the Earth was estimated to be 6000 years old based on some studies of the Bible. They decided the Earth had been created on October 26th of the year 4004 Before the Common Era, precisely at 9 o'clock in the morning! They were wrong by 6 orders of magnitude.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Another example is William Herschel, great astronomer and discoverer of Uranus. He thought that the Moon and other planets hold civilisations, and took the craters of the Moon as evidence for that.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
I find it amusing that Aristotle thought that the brain was a refrigerator of the blood. And that we move our limbs by virtue of a magical ingredient in our blood (a vital pneuma). Great thinkers can be very wrong about some things…
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
www.scientificamerican.com/article/ai-j...
scientificamerican.com
AI just solved an 80-year-old ‘Erdős problem,’ and mathematicians are amazed
A chatbot’s result for the 80-year-old “unit distance” conjecture is the first AI proof that would likely be published in math’s top journal if humans had done it alone
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Thank you for sharing this knowledge with the world - it makes the world a better place.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
A few months ago I discovered Sean Carroll’s (@seanmcarroll.bsky.social ) podcast and I felt like entering a gold mine! So many excellent conversations on topics I care so much about! My favourites include the ones with Dean Buonomano, Jenann Ismael or James Ladyman, and recent ones on cosmology.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
I loved this book! It provides a very original approach to the many types of death. All books by Ricard must be read! They are great fun and very insightful. 😊
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
It is spectacular what we've learnt about memory in recent years! Knowing how our memory works is knowing ourselves. Prof. Quian Quiroga explains fascinating things in "Borges y la memoria". And he's based in Barcelona! Very recommendable.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Amb Carles Lalueza, Ricard Solé ( @ricardsole.bsky.social ), Arcadi Navarro i Cristina Saez ( @ara.cat ) Al Centre Martorell, al Parc de la Ciutadella Tothom hi és benvingut! serà molt bonic
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Quin goig fa el llibre-catàleg sobre La invenció del temps! M'ha encantat l'assaig d'Arcadi Navarro sobre temps i Alzheimer. Jo vaig escriure sobre si el passat o el futur existeixen com el present. El presentem dijous 11 de juny a les 18:30! museuciencies.cat/activitats/2...
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Free will seems incompatible with the laws of physics, both the deteministic and the undeterministic ones. Yet I seem to be in control of my own actions. “How physics makes us free” by Jenann Ismael has helped me make sense of this conundrum. I am more at peace with this issue now
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
He escrit un llibre a la cruïlla de la física, la filosofia i la poesia. Estic buscant editor/a gemmadelescoves.com/book
gemmadelescoves.com
My book
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Em vaig enamorar de la idea del principi de l'infinit llegint "The beginning of infinity" de David Deutsch. He intentat formalitzar la idea mitjançant el concepte d'universalitat en física, mates, informàtica... Vaig procurar explicar-ho en aquesta TEDx talk www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q2g...
youtube.com
How simplicity leads to universality | Gemma De las Cuevas | TEDxFHKufstein
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Now that some politicians are reopening the wounds of Spanish colonialism, I recommend listening to Season 5 of Revolutions by Mike Duncan about the wars of Spanish American independence some 200 years ago. It gives a sense of the sad legacy Spain left in terms of injustice.
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
If you feel like thinking about the weird yet intimate nature of time, join us at the Círculo de las Bellas Artes on May 20th with Carlos Sabín and Valerio Rocco. We'll talk about the Physics and Philosophy of Time. www.circulobellasartes.com/humanidades/...
circulobellasartes.com
Medicina y filosofía - Círculo de Bellas Artes
En esta segunda edición del ciclo seguiremos profundizando en los nexos que unen ambas disciplinas, proponiendo en esta ocasión una reflexión en torno al
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Gemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Bon dia dels enamorats, bon dia del llibre, bona diada de Sant Jordi!🥰 La festa més preciosa de l’any
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