On classical and quantum error-correction in ciliate mate selection.
Ciliated protozoa sensing pheromones secreted from nonself mating types engage in preconjugal "courtship" dances and contacts. Using simulated "social" trials, I recently showed the heterotrich ciliate, Spirostomum ambiguum, can learn to advertise degrees of mating fitness to "suitors" and "rivals" when serially contracting or (ciliary) reversing at variable rates. Conspicuous consumers signal higher quality reproductive status by playing "harder-to-get" via metabolically wasteful avoidance displays that hinder the exchange of preconjugal touches between "courting" couples. Conversely, prudent savers conserve energy pending situations more favorable for conjugating a partner. These ciliates reply with lower avoidance frequencies, guaranteeing nearby conspecifics of being "easier-to-get". By deciding to switch from behavioral strategies signaling conspicuous consumption to those signaling prudent savings, fitter ciliates learn to altruistically sacrifice net payoffs and persuade suitors to participate in paired reproduction. Less fit ciliates, unable to sustain long periods of high response rates, switch their behavioral strategies of prudent savings to briefly emit conspicuous consumption and thus learn to opportunistically cheat superior rivals. Mating competency depends, in part, on the efficiency of heuristics formed from recursive strategy searches and use. Heuristics represent stored patterns of action which evolve into ordered computational networks supporting entire courting repertoires. As ciliates expand signaling skills over many trials, the connectivity between strategies strengthens from Hebbian-like learning, leading to faster decisions about the appropriateness of courting messages and replies. The best experts master signaling decisions at efficiencies comparable to finding target solutions from superposed states with Grover's quantum search algorithm. I here append these findings with a critique on the feasibility of serial behavioral strategies to perfect ciliate mate selection via classical repetition and quantum bit-flip error-correction codes that safeguard transmitted social information from noise and might be exploited for signal encryption.
Clark
Kevin B
KB
Portland, OR USA.
J Exp Biol. 1999 Jan 21;202(Pt 4):475-483
9914154
EMBO J. 2003 Feb 17;22(4):870-81
12574123
Phys Rev Lett. 1993 Mar 29;70(13):1895-1899
10053414
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1982 Summer;6(2):183-94
6285234
Biosystems. 2010 Mar;99(3):167-78
19883726
Biosystems. 2010 Jan;99(1):27-41
19686801
Genetics. 1975 May;80(1):13-21
1137967
Nature. 1995 Aug 10;376(6540):522-4
7637785
Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 1995 Feb;70(1):1-65
7718697