Limits of Computation: An Introduction to the Undecidable and the Intractable

Limits of Computation: An Introduction to the Undecidable and the Intractable offers a gentle introduction to the theory of computational complexity. It explains the difficulties of computation, addressing problems that have no algorithm at all and problems that cannot be solved efficiently.

The book enables readers to understand:

• What does it mean for a problem to be unsolvable or to be NP-complete?
• What is meant by a computation and what is a general model of a computer?
• What does it mean for an algorithm to exist and what kinds of problems have no algorithm?
• What problems have algorithms but the algorithm may take centuries to finish?

Developed from the authors’ course on computational complexity theory, the text is suitable for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students without a strong background in theoretical computer science. Each chapter presents the fundamentals, examples, complete proofs of theorems, and a wide range of exercises.

Edna E. Reiter, Ph.D., is the current Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at California State University, East Bay (CSUEB). Her research interests include noncommutative ring theory and theoretical aspects of computer science.

Clayton Matthew Johnson, Ph.D., is the graduate coordinator for all M.S. students and the incoming Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at CSUEB. His research interests include genetic algorithms and machine learning.

Drs. Reiter and Johnson developed the subject matter for the CSUEB Computation and Complexity course, which is required for all students in the computer science M.S. program. The course covers the hard problems of computer science―those that are intractable or undecidable. The material in this book has been tested on multiple sections of CSUEB students.