Cristian S Calude - Böcker

Computation is ubiquitous: modern life would be inconceivable without it.Written as a series of conversations with influential computer scientists, mathematicians and physicists, this book provides access to the inner thinking of those who have made essential contributions to the development of computing and its applications. You will learn about the interviewees' education, career path, influences, methods of work, how they cope with failure and success, how they relax, how they see the future, and much more.The conversations are presented in jargon-free language suitable for a general audience, but with enough technical detail for more specialized readers. The aim of the book is not only to inform and entertain, but also to motivate and stimulate.

The finite - infinite interplay is central in human thinking, from ancient philosophers and mathematicians (Zeno, Pythagoras), to modern mathe­ matics (Cantor, Hilbert) and computer science (Turing, Godel). Recent developments in mathematics and computer science suggest a) radically new answers to classical questions (e. g. , does infinity exist?, where does infinity come from?, how to reconcile the finiteness of the human brain with the infinity of ideas it produces?), b) new questions of debate (e. g. , what is the role played by randomness?, are computers capable of handling the infinity through unconventional media of computation?, how can one approximate efficiently the finite by the infinite and, conversely, the infinite by finite?). Distinguished authors from around the world, many of them architects of the mathematics and computer science for the new century, contribute to the volume. Papers are as varied as Professor Marcus' activity, to whom this volume is dedicated. They range from real analysis to DNA com­ puting, from linguistics to logic, from combinatorics on words to symbolic dynamics, from automata theory to geography, and so on, plus an incursion into the old history of conceptions about infinity and a list of philosophical "open problems". They are mainly mathematical and theoretical computer science texts, but not all of them are purely mathematical.

Professor Jozef Gruska is a well known computer scientist for his many and broad results. He was the father of theoretical computer science research in Czechoslovakia and among the first Slovak programmers in the early 1960s. Jozef Gruska introduced the descriptional complexity of grammars, automata, and languages, and is one of the pioneers of parallel (systolic) automata. His other main research interests include parallel systems and automata, as well as quantum information processing, transmission, and cryptography. He is co-founder of four regular series of conferences in informatics and two in quantum information processing and the Founding Chair (1989-96) of the IFIP Specialist Group on Foundations of Computer Science.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Unconventional Computation and Natural Computation, UCNC 2015, held in Auckland, New Zealand, in August/September 2015. The papers cover a wide range of topics including among others molecular (DNA) computing;

The main subjects of the Developments in Language Theory (DLT) conf- ence series are formal languages, automata, conventional and unconventional computation theory, and applications of automata and language theory. T- ical, but not exclusive, topics of interest include: grammars and acceptors for strings, graphs, and arrays; e?cient text algorithms; combinatorial and al- braic properties of languages; decision problems; relations to complexity theory andlogic;picturedescriptionandanalysis;cryptography;concurrency;andDNA and quantum computing. The members of the steering committee of DLT are: J. Berstel (Paris), M. Ito(Kyoto),W. Kuich(Vienna),G. P? aun(BucharestandSeville),A. Restivo (Palermo), G. Rozenberg (chair, Leiden), A. Salomaa (Turku) and W. Thomas (Aachen). The ?rst DLT conference was organized by G. Rozenberg and A. Salomaa in Turku in 1993. After this, the DLT conferences were held in every odd year: Magdeburg(1995),Thessaloniki(1997),Aachen(1999)andVienna(2001). Since 2001, a DLT conference has been organized in every odd year in Europe and in every even year outside Europe. The last two DLT conferences were organized in Kyoto, Japan in 2002 and Szeged, Hungary in 2003.The titles of the volumes of the past DLT conferences are the following: 1. Developments in Language Theory. At the Crossroads of Mathematics, C- puter Science and Biology (edited by G. Rozenberg and A. Salomaa) (1994) (World Scienti?c) 2. Developments in Language Theory II. At the Crossroads of Mathematics, Computer Science and Biology (edited by J. Dassow, G. Rozenberg and A. Salomaa) (1996) (World Scienti?c) 3. Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Developments in L- guageTheory(editedbyS.

The Fourth International Conference on Unconventional Computation, UC 2005, organized under the auspices of EATCS by the Centre for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science and the Department of C- puter Science and Arti?cial Intelligence of the University of Seville, was held in Seville, October 3–7, 2005. Seville, one of the most beautiful cities in Spain, is at its best in October. An explosion of colour and contrast: ?amenco, bull?ghting, and a lively at- sphere in the streets due to the open and friendly nature of its people. The river Guadalquivir, the Cathedral and the Golden Tower are all places full of magic where the visitor can feel the spirit of a city which is eternally romantic. The series of International Conferences Unconventional Computation (UC),https://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/CDMTCS/conferences/uc/isdevoted to all aspects of unconventional computation, theory as well as experiments and applications. Typical, but not exclusive, topics are: natural computing including quantum, cellular,molecular, neural and evolutionarycomputing; chaosand - namical systems based computing; and various proposals for computations that go beyond the Turing model. The ?rst venue of the Unconventional Computation Conference (formerly called Unconventional Models of Computation) was Auckland, New Zealand in 1998; subsequent sites of the conference were Brussels, Belgium in 2000 and Kobe, Japan in 2002. The titles of the proceedings volumes from past UC Conferences are as follows: 1. C.S. Calude, J. Casti, M.J. Dinneen (eds.). Unconventional Models of C- putation, Springer-Verlag, Singapore, 1998, viii + 426 pp. ISBN: 981-3083- 69-7.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Unconventional Computation, UC 2006, held in York, UK, in September 2006. The 17 revised full papers presented together with four invited full papers were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the book. All current aspects of unconventional computation are addressed - theory as well as experiments and applications.

The refereed proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, DMTCS 2003, held in Dijon, France, in July 2003. The 18 revised full papers presented together with 5 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 35 submissions. A broad variety of topics in discrete mathematics and the theory of computing is addressed including information theory, coding, algorithms, complexity, automata, computational mathematics, combinatorial computations, graph computations, algorithmic geometry, relational methods, game-theoretic methods, combinatorial optimization, and finite state systems.

J. Casti, Five More Golden Rules, Wiley, New York, 2000, p. 262.

There is a world beyond Turing, as more and more computer researchers are demonstrating, but where would you find out about the current leading edge in unconventional computation? Here, in this fascinating work that is the refereed proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Unconventional Computation, held in Kingston, Canada, in August 2007. The 17 revised full papers presented together with 4 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the book. All current aspects of unconventional computation are addressed.

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

This book is dedicated to Hermann Maurer on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The title word Rainbow reflects the beauty and variety of the achievements of this outstanding scientist, and also the diversity and depth of current research in computer science. The high admiration that Professor Maurer enjoys in the computer science community all over the world was witnessed by the enthusiastic response received to the request to contribute to this book. The contributors are leading researchers, also representing the diversity of computer science. The research areas included in the book range from Automata, Formal Languages and Computability to various aspects of the Practice of Computer Science, as well as from Algorithmics to Learning. The book consists of a brief Preface describing the achievements of Professor Maurer, followed by twenty articles roughly grouped together according to their topics. Most of the articles are written in a style understandable to a wider audience. The book is useful to anyone interested in recent developments in computer science.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Unconventional Computation, UC 2011, held in Turku, Finland, in June 2011. The 17 revised full papers presented together with 6 extended abstracts of invited talks, and 3 extended abstracts of tutorials were carefully reviewed and selected from 33 initial submissions. The papers are devoted to all aspects of unconventional computation theory as well as experiments and applications. Typical topics are: natural computing including quantum, cellular, molecular, membrane, neural, and evolutionary computing, as well as chaos and dynamical system-based computing, and various proposals for computational mechanisms that go beyond the Turing model.

This is a book about the "Halting Problem", arguably the most (in)famous computer-related problem: can an algorithm decide in finite time whether an arbitrary computer program eventually stops? This seems a dull, petty question: after all, you run the program and wait till it stops. However, what if the program does not stop in a reasonable time, a week, a year, or a decade? Can you infer that it will never stop? The answer is negative. Does this raise your interest? If not, consider these questions: Can mathematics be done by computers only? Can software testing be fully automated? Can you write an anti-virus program which never needs any updates? Can we make the Internet perfectly secure? Your guess is correct: the answer to each question is negative. The Halting Problem is "hidden" in many subjects, from logic (is mathematics free of contradictions?), physics (is quantum randomness perfect?), to philosophy (do humans have free will, or do our brains generate our thoughts and decisions in a deterministic way?) and quantum computing (why we don't have a quantum Halting Problem?) — this book will visit each of them.Written in an informal and thought-provoking language, supported with suggestive illustrations and applications and almost free of arcane mathematics (formal arguments are relegated to particular parts dedicated to the mathematically-oriented reader), the book will stimulate the curiosity and participation of the reader interested in the consequences of the limits of computing and in various attempts to cope with them.

The book is a collection of papers written by a selection of eminent authors from around the world in honour of Gregory Chaitin's 60th birthday. This is a unique volume including technical contributions, philosophical papers and essays.

The book is a collection of papers of experts in the fields of information and complexity. Information is a basic structure of the world, while complexity is a fundamental property of systems and processes. There are intrinsic relations between information and complexity.The research in information theory, the theory of complexity and their interrelations is very active. The book will expand knowledge on information, complexity and their relations representing the most recent and advanced studies and achievements in this area.The goal of the book is to present the topic from different perspectives — mathematical, informational, philosophical, methodological, etc.