Searching for the Impossible using Genetic Programming

Many potential inventions are never discovered because the thought processes of scientists and engineers are channeled along well-traveled paths. In contrast, the evolutionary process tends to opportunistically solve problems without considering whether the evolved solution comports with human preconceptions about whether the goal is impossible. This paper demonstrates how genetic programming can be used to automate the process of exploring queries, conjectures, and challenges concerning the existence of seemingly impossible entities. The paper suggests a way by which genetic programming can be used to automate the invention process. We illustrate the concept using a challenge posed by a leading analog electrical engineer concerning whether it is possible to design a circuit composed of only resistors and capacitors that delivers a gain of greater than one. The paper contains a circuit evolved by genetic programming that satisfies the requirement of this challenge as well a related more difficult challenge. The original challenge was motivated by a circuit patented in 1956 for preprocessing inputs to oscilloscopes. The paper also contains an evolved circuit satisfying (and exceeding) the original design requirements of the circuit patented in 1956. This evolved circuit is another example of a result produced by genetic programming that is competitive with a humanproduced result that was considered to be creative and inventive at the time it was first discovered.