Information and Randomness: An Algorithmic Perspective (E a T C S Monographs on Theoretical Computer Science) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0387574565 ISBN 13: 9780387574561

Synopsis

"Algorithmic information theory (AIT) is the result of putting Shannon's information theory and Turing's computability theory into a cocktail shaker and shaking vigorously", says G.J. Chaitin, one of the fathers of this theory of complexity and randomness, which is also known as Kolmogorov complexity. It is relevant for logic (new light is shed on G"del's incompleteness results), physics (chaotic motion), biology (how likely is life to appear and evolve?), and metaphysics (how ordered is the universe?). This book, benefiting from the author's research and teaching experience in Algorithmic Information Theory (AIT), should help to make the detailed mathematical techniques of AIT accessible to a much wider audience.

About this title

Review

From the reviews of the second edition:

"This book, benefiting from the author’s research and teaching experience in Algorithmic Information Theory (AIT) should help to make the detailed mathematical techniques of AIT accessible to a much wider audience." (PHINEWS, Vol. 2, October 2002)

From the Back Cover

The book presents in a mathematical clear way the fundamentals of algorithmic information theory and a few selected applications. This 2nd edition presents new and important results obtained in recent years: the characterization of computable enumerable random reals, the construction of an Omega Number for which ZFC cannot determine any digits, and the first successful attempt to compute the exact values of 64 bits of a specific Omega Number. Finally, the book contains a discussion of some interesting philosophical questions related to randomness and mathematical knowledge.

"Professor Calude has produced a first-rate exposition of up-to-date work in information and randomness." D.S. Bridges, Canterbury University, co-author, with Errett Bishop, of Constructive Analysis;

"The second edition of this classic work is highly recommended to anyone interested in algorithmic information and randomness." G.J. Chaitin, IBM Research Division, New York, author of Conversations with a Mathematician;

 "This book is a must for a comprehensive introduction to algorithmic information theory and for anyone interested in its applications in the natural sciences." K. Svozil, Technical University of Vienna, author of Randomness & Undecidability in Physics

Edition details

• ISBN 10: 0387574565
• ISBN 13: 9780387574561
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 240