Thomas Varley

Biography

Thomas F. Varley is a complex systems scientist interested in the problem of “emergence” in natural and man-made systems. Initially drawn to complexity by an interest in the question of “consciousness” and how brain complexity supports conscious awareness, they have since focused the majority of their work in the field of multivariate information theory, which provides a formal, mathematical framework describing the relationship between “wholes” and “parts” in complex systems. Much of their work has focused on how the language of information can reveal different kinds of emergence: dynamics where the “whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, and what this tells us about the world around us.

Beyond science, Thomas is an active artist, working in blown glass and wheel-thrown ceramics, as well as writing non-fiction and fiction for their newsletter Synergies on Substack. They hold a double PhD in Complex Systems Science and Computational Neuroscience from Indiana University, an M.Phil degree from the University of Cambridge, and a B.A. from Hampshire College. They can be found (against their better judgment) on Twitter @thosvarley, and write on the Substack Synergies.

Research Areas

  • Information Theory

  • Complex Systems

  • Emergence

Selected Publications

  • Varley, T. F. (2023). Information Theory for Complex Systems Scientists (arXiv:2304.12482). arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2304.12482

  • Varley, T. F., Pope, M., Maria Grazia, P., Joshua, F., & Sporns, O. (2023). Partial entropy decomposition reveals higher-order information structures in human brain activity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(30), e2300888120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2300888120

  • Varley, T. F. (2023). Flickering Emergences: The Question of Locality in Information-Theoretic Approaches to Emergence. Entropy, 25(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.3390/e25010054

  • Varley, T., Sporns, O., Puce, A., & Beggs, J. (2020). Differential effects of propofol and ketamine on critical brain dynamics. PLOS Computational Biology, 16(12), Article 12. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008418