Aspects Of Kolmogorov Complexity The Physics Of Information

The research presented in Aspects of Kolmogorov Complexity addresses the fundamental standard of defining randomness as measured by a Martin-Lof level of randomness as found in random sequential binary strings. A classical study of statistics that addresses both a fundamental standard of statistics as well as an applied measure for statistical communication theory. The research points to compression levels in a random state that are greater than is found in current literature. A historical overview of the field of Kolmogorov Complexity and Algorithmic Information Theory, a subfield of Information Theory, is given as well as examples using a radix 3, radix 4, and radix 5 base numbers for both random and non-random sequential strings. The text also examines monochromatic and chromatic symbols and both theoretical and applied aspects of data compression as they relate to the transmission and storage of information. The appendix contains papers on the subject given at conferences and the references are current.ContentsTechnical topics addressed in Aspects of Kolmogorov Complexity include:• Statistical Communication Theory• Algorithmic Information Theory• Kolmogorov Complexity• Martin-Lof Randomness• Compression, Transmission and Storage of Information

“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 applications of Kolmogorov complexity. The book presents a thorough treatment of the subject with a wide range of illustrative applications. Such applications include the randomness of finite objects or infinite sequences, Martin-Loef tests for randomness, information theory, computational 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 hints to solutions of problems. New topics in this edition include Omega numbers, Kolmogorov–Loveland randomness, universal learning, communication complexity, Kolmogorov's random graphs, time-limited universal distribution, Shannon information and others.

Briefly, we review the basic elements of computability theory and prob ability theory that are required. Finally, in order to place the subject in the appropriate historical and conceptual context we trace the main roots of Kolmogorov complexity. This way the stage is set for Chapters 2 and 3, where we introduce the notion of optimal effective descriptions of objects. The length of such a description (or the number of bits of information in it) is its Kolmogorov complexity. We treat all aspects of the elementary mathematical theory of Kolmogorov complexity. This body of knowledge may be called algo rithmic complexity theory. The theory of Martin-Lof tests for random ness of finite objects and infinite sequences is inextricably intertwined with the theory of Kolmogorov complexity and is completely treated. We also investigate the statistical properties of finite strings with high Kolmogorov complexity. Both of these topics are eminently useful in the applications part of the book. We also investigate the recursion theoretic properties of Kolmogorov complexity (relations with Godel's incompleteness result), and the Kolmogorov complexity version of infor mation theory, which we may call "algorithmic information theory" or "absolute information theory. " The treatment of algorithmic probability theory in Chapter 4 presup poses Sections 1. 6, 1. 11. 2, and Chapter 3 (at least Sections 3. 1 through 3. 4).

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.

Looking at a sequence of zeros and ones, we often feel that it is not random, that is, it is not plausible as an outcome of fair coin tossing. Why? The answer is provided by algorithmic information theory: because the sequence is compressible, that is, it has small complexity or, equivalently, can be produced by a short program. This idea, going back to Solomonoff, Kolmogorov, Chaitin, Levin, and others, is now the starting point of algorithmic information theory. The first part of this book is a textbook-style exposition of the basic notions of complexity and randomness; the second part covers some recent work done by participants of the “Kolmogorov seminar” in Moscow (started by Kolmogorov himself in the 1980s) and their colleagues. This book contains numerous exercises (embedded in the text) that will help readers to grasp the material.

This work addresses the notion of compression ratios greater than what has been known for random sequential strings in binary and larger radix-based systems as applied to those traditionally found in Kolmogorov complexity. A culmination of the author's decade-long research that began with his discovery of a compressible random sequential string, th

This must-read textbook presents an essential introduction to Kolmogorov complexity (KC), a central theory and powerful tool in information science that deals with the quantity of information in individual objects. The text covers both the fundamental concepts and the most important practical applications, supported by a wealth of didactic features. This thoroughly revised and enhanced fourth edition includes new and updated material on, amongst other topics, the Miller-Yu theorem, the Gács-Kučera theorem, the Day-Gács theorem, increasing randomness, short lists computable from an input string containing the incomputable Kolmogorov complexity of the input, the Lovász local lemma, sorting, the algorithmic full Slepian-Wolf theorem for individual strings, multiset normalized information distance and normalized web distance, and conditional universal distribution. Topics and features: describes the mathematical theory of KC, including the theories of algorithmic complexity and algorithmic probability; presents a general theory of inductive reasoning and its applications, and reviews the utility of the incompressibility method; covers the practical application of KC in great detail, including the normalized information distance (the similarity metric) and information diameter of multisets in phylogeny, language trees, music, heterogeneous files, and clustering; discusses the many applications of resource-bounded KC, and examines different physical theories from a KC point of view; includes numerous examples that elaborate the theory, and a range of exercises of varying difficulty (with solutions); offers explanatory asides on technical issues, and extensive historical sections; suggests structures for several one-semester courses in the preface. As the definitive textbook on Kolmogorov complexity, this comprehensive and self-contained work is an invaluable resource for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers in all fields of science.

This book offers a self-contained overview of the entropic approach to quantum dynamical systems. In it, complexity in quantum dynamics is addressed by comparison with the classical ergodic, information, and algorithmic complexity theories.