Linqian Wu
University of Waterloo and Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Integrated information Consciousness is intrinsic causal power, measured as integrated information
Linqian Wu is a theoretical and computational researcher affiliated with the University of Waterloo and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Wu studies the mathematical identifiability of causal mechanism functionals in stochastic networks when probed through realistic experimental interventions.
In the November 2026 paper Same Behavior, Different Mechanism: What Finite Experiments Can Certify About Integrated Information (arXiv:2611.08469), co-authored with Diaoxuan He, Wu demonstrates that networks with identical input-output behavioral laws at their response delay can possess sharply different system integrated information ($\varphi$). The paper proves three fundamental constraints for empirical consciousness auditing. Unobserved hidden units impose irreducible precision floors on $\varphi$ regardless of sample size, discrete minimum-information partition boundaries create sharp discontinuities across 25 to 100 percent of network edges where high-accuracy surrogate models misreport $\varphi$, and only one-sided lower bounds (such as certifying $\varphi > 1.004$ bits with bounded false-certificate probability) survive finite noisy interventions.
Within consciousness science, Wu’s theorems provide a rigorous mathematical boundary between behavioral black-box testing and mechanistic white-box certification, directly constraining how Integrated Information Theory can be applied to artificial systems.
Known for. Finite-experiment certifiability of integrated information, partial-observability precision floors, mechanism auditing
Coverage on this site
- What Finite Experiments Can Certify About Integrated Information Under Identical Behavior November 2026
Related researchers
- Diaoxuan HeUniversity of DebrecenCertifiability of integrated information under finite noisy interventions, partition discontinuity analysis in stochastic networks
- Larissa AlbantakisUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, Center for Sleep and ConsciousnessIntegrated Information Theory 4.0 and dissociating intelligence from consciousness in artificial systems
- Costas AnastassiouAllen InstituteEphaptic coupling of cortical neurons, endogenous electric fields as causal participants in neural activity, extracellular field biophysics
- Anton ArkhipovAllen Institute for Brain ScienceLarge-scale neural simulation, biophysically detailed cortical models, AIBRAIN program, State of Brain Emulation Report 2025
- Nihat AyHamburg University of Technology; external professor, Santa Fe Institute; honorary professor, Leipzig UniversityInformation geometry and information-theoretic measures of complexity and causal integration
- Bernard J. BaarsThe Neurosciences InstituteGlobal Workspace Theory (GWT), cognitive architecture of conscious access, A Cognitive Theory of Consciousness (1988), In the Theater of Consciousness (1997)
Linqian Wu is listed with the other integrated information theorists, who hold that consciousness is intrinsic causal power, measured as integrated information. The theory family behind that position is set out in the index of consciousness theories. Every researcher covered on this site is indexed in the directory of consciousness researchers.