An Introduction to Kolmogorov Complexity and Its Applications (Texts in Computer Science) - Softcover

Ming Li; Paul Vitányi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0387948686 ISBN 13: 9780387948683

Publisher: Springer, 1997

Synopsis

"The book is outstanding and admirable in many respects. ... is necessary reading for all kinds of readers from undergraduate students to top authorities in the field." Journal of Symbolic Logic Written by two experts in the field, this is the only comprehensive and unified treatment of the central ideas and their applications of Kolmogorov complexity. the book presents a thorough treatment of the subject with a wide range of illsutrative applications. Such applications include the randomeness of finite objects or infinite sequences, Martin-Loef tests for randomness, information theory, computationla learning theory, the complexity of algorithms, and the thermodynamics of computing. It will be ideal for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers in computer science, mathematics, cognitive sciences, philosophy, artificial intelligence, statistics, and physics. the book is self-contained in that it contains the basic requirements from mathematics and computer science. Included are also numerous problem sets, comments, source references, and himnts to solutions of problems. In this new edition the authors have added new material on circuit theory, distributed algorithms, data compression, and other topics.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Written by two experts in the field, this book is ideal for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers in computer science, mathematics, cognitive sciences, philosophy, artificial intelligence, statistics, and physics. It is self-contained in that it contains the basic requirements from mathematics and computer science. Included are also numerous problem sets, comments, source references, and hints to solutions of problems, as well as a great deal of new material not included in the first edition.

Review:

"This is a great book. The other extant literature on Kolmogorov complexity is scattered, in need of translation, or otherwise hard to access. This book puts at all in one place in a readable, enjoyable style. In this second edition, the authors have added many new results that have been proven since the first edition was published in 1993." -- ACM's Computing Reviews

...provides a stimulating and welcome presentation that theory which deals with the quantity of information in individual objects...this book should be considered a must read for researchers and practitioners interested in maintaining an awareness of theories important to the advancement in finance. -- Randall. B. Caldwell, Journal of Computational Intelligence, FRANCE

About this edition

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0387948686
• ISBN 13: 9780387948683
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 637