Probability theory has been extraordinarily successful at describing a variety of phenomena, from the behaviour of gases to the transmission of messages, and is, besides, a powerful tool with applications throughout mathematics. At its heart are a number of concepts familiar in one guise or another to many: Gauss' bell-shaped curve, the law of averages, and so on, concepts that crop up in so many settings they are in some sense universal. This universality is predicted by probability theory to a remarkable degree. This book explains that theory and investigates its ramifications. Assuming a good working knowledge of basic analysis, real and complex, the author maps out a route from basic probability, via random walks, Brownian motion, the law of large numbers and the central limit theorem, to aspects of ergodic theorems, equilibrium and nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, communication over a noisy channel, and random matrices. Numerous examples and exercises enrich the text.

Probability theory has been extraordinarily successful at describing a variety of phenomena, from the behaviour of gases to the transmission of messages, and is, besides, a powerful tool with applications throughout mathematics. At its heart are a number of concepts familiar in one guise or another to many: Gauss' bell-shaped curve, the law of averages, and so on, concepts that crop up in so many settings they are in some sense universal. This universality is predicted by probability theory to a remarkable degree. This book explains that theory and investigates its ramifications. Assuming a good working knowledge of basic analysis, real and complex, the author maps out a route from basic probability, via random walks, Brownian motion, the law of large numbers and the central limit theorem, to aspects of ergodic theorems, equilibrium and nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, communication over a noisy channel, and random matrices. Numerous examples and exercises enrich the text.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Innovations for Community Services, I4CS 2016, held in Vienna, Austria, in June 2016. The 12 revised full papers presented together with two short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 30 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on navigation and data management; monitoring and decision making; coding and security; collaboration and workflow; routing and technology; topic and object tracking.

Introduction to the Theory of Quantum Information Processing provides the material for a one-semester graduate level course on quantum information theory and quantum computing for students who have had a one-year graduate course in quantum mechanics. Many standard subjects are treated, such as density matrices, entanglement, quantum maps, quantum cryptography, and quantum codes. Also included are discussions of quantum machines and quantum walks. In addition, the book provides detailed treatments of several underlying fundamental principles of quantum theory, such as quantum measurements, the no-cloning and no-signaling theorems, and their consequences. Problems of various levels of difficulty supplement the text, with the most challenging problems bringing the reader to the forefront of active research. This book provides a compact introduction to the fascinating and rapidly evolving interdisciplinary field of quantum information theory, and it prepares the reader for doing active research in this area.

With its intuitive yet rigorous approach to machine learning, this text provides students with the fundamental knowledge and practical tools needed to conduct research and build data-driven products. The authors prioritize geometric intuition and algorithmic thinking, and include detail on all the essential mathematical prerequisites, to offer a fresh and accessible way to learn. Practical applications are emphasized, with examples from disciplines including computer vision, natural language processing, economics, neuroscience, recommender systems, physics, and biology. Over 300 color illustrations are included and have been meticulously designed to enable an intuitive grasp of technical concepts, and over 100 in-depth coding exercises (in Python) provide a real understanding of crucial machine learning algorithms. A suite of online resources including sample code, data sets, interactive lecture slides, and a solutions manual are provided online, making this an ideal text both for graduate courses on machine learning and for individual reference and self-study.

Luciano Floridi develops an original ethical framework for dealing with the new challenges posed by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). ICTs have profoundly changed many aspects of life, including the nature of entertainment, work, communication, education, health care, industrial production and business, social relations, and conflicts. They have had a radical and widespread impact on our moral lives and on contemporary ethical debates. Privacy, ownership, freedom of speech, responsibility, technological determinism, the digital divide, and pornography online are only some of the pressing issues that characterise the ethical discourse in the information society. They are the subject of Information Ethics (IE), the new philosophical area of research that investigates the ethical impact of ICTs on human life and society. Since the seventies, IE has been a standard topic in many curricula. In recent years, there has been a flourishing of new university courses, international conferences, workshops, professional organizations, specialized periodicals and research centres. However, investigations have so far been largely influenced by professional and technical approaches, addressing mainly legal, social, cultural and technological problems. This book is the first philosophical monograph entirely and exclusively dedicated to it. Floridi lays down, for the first time, the conceptual foundations for IE. He does so systematically, by pursuing three goals: a) a metatheoretical goal: it describes what IE is, its problems, approaches and methods; b) an introductory goal: it helps the reader to gain a better grasp of the complex and multifarious nature of the various concepts and phenomena related to computer ethics; c) an analytic goal: it answers several key theoretical questions of great philosophical interest, arising from the investigation of the ethical implications of ICTs. Although entirely independent of The Philosophy of Information (OUP, 2011), Floridi's previous book, The Ethics of Information complements it as new work on the foundations of the philosophy of information.

This book provides readers with a concise introduction to current studies on operator-algebras and their generalizations, operator spaces and operator systems, with a special focus on their application in quantum information science. This basic framework for the mathematical formulation of quantum information can be traced back to the mathematical work of John von Neumann, one of the pioneers of operator algebras, which forms the underpinning of most current mathematical treatments of the quantum theory, besides being one of the most dynamic areas of twentieth century functional analysis. Today, von Neumann's foresight finds expression in the rapidly growing field of quantum information theory. These notes gather the content of lectures given by a very distinguished group of mathematicians and quantum information theorists, held at the IMSc in Chennai some years ago, and great care has been taken to present the material as a primer on the subject matter. Starting from the basic definitions of operator spaces and operator systems, this text proceeds to discuss several important theorems including Stinespring's dilation theorem for completely positive maps and Kirchberg's theorem on tensor products of C*-algebras. It also takes a closer look at the abstract characterization of operator systems and, motivated by the requirements of different tensor products in quantum information theory, the theory of tensor products in operator systems is discussed in detail. On the quantum information side, the book offers a rigorous treatment of quantifying entanglement in bipartite quantum systems, and moves on to review four different areas in which ideas from the theory of operator systems and operator algebras play a natural role: the issue of zero-error communication over quantum channels, the strong subadditivity property of quantum entropy, the different norms on quantum states and the corresponding induced norms on quantum channels, and, lastly, the applications of matrix-valued random variables in the quantum information setting.

This book presents a comprehensive and consistent theory of estimation. The framework described leads naturally to a generalized maximum capacity estimator. This approach allows the optimal estimation of real-valued parameters, their number and intervals, as well as providing common ground for explaining the power of these estimators. Beginning with a review of coding and the key properties of information, the author goes on to discuss the techniques of estimation and develops the generalized maximum capacity estimator, based on a new form of Shannon's mutual information and channel capacity. Applications of this powerful technique in hypothesis testing and denoising are described in detail. Offering an original and thought-provoking perspective on estimation theory, Jorma Rissanen's book is of interest to graduate students and researchers in the fields of information theory, probability and statistics, econometrics and finance.

This book deals with the computational complexity of mathematical problems for which available information is partial, noisy and priced. The author develops a general theory of computational complexity of continuous problems with noisy information and gives a number of applications; he considers deterministic as well as stochastic noise. He also presents optimal algorithms, optimal information, and complexity bounds in different settings: worst case, average case, mixed worst-average, average-worst, and asymptotic. Particular topics include: the existence of optimal linear (affine) algorithms, optimality properties of smoothing spline, regularization and least squares algorithms (with the optimal choice of the smoothing and regularization parameters), adaption versus nonadaption, and relations between different settings. The book integrates the work of researchers over the past decade in such areas as computational complexity, approximation theory, and statistics, and includes many new results as well. The author supplies two hundred exercises to increase the reader's understanding of the subject.

Is meaningful communication possible between two intelligent parties who share no common language or background? In this work, a theoretical framework is proposed in which it is possible to address when and to what extent such semantic communication is possible: such problems can be rigorously addressed by explicitly focusing on the goals of the communication. Under this framework, it is possible to show that for many goals, communication without any common language or background is possible using universal protocols. This work should be accessible to anyone with an undergraduate-level knowledge of the theory of computation. The theoretical framework presented here is of interest to anyone wishing to design systems with flexible interfaces, either among computers or between computers and their users.

This easy-to-read guide provides a concise introduction to the engineering background of modern communication systems, from mobile phones to data compression and storage. Background mathematics and specific engineering techniques are kept to a minimum so that only a basic knowledge of high-school mathematics is needed to understand the material covered. The authors begin with many practical applications in coding, including the repetition code, the Hamming code and the Huffman code. They then explain the corresponding information theory, from entropy and mutual information to channel capacity and the information transmission theorem. Finally, they provide insights into the connections between coding theory and other fields. Many worked examples are given throughout the book, using practical applications to illustrate theoretical definitions. Exercises are also included, enabling readers to double-check what they have learned and gain glimpses into more advanced topics, making this perfect for anyone who needs a quick introduction to the subject.

This easy-to-read guide provides a concise introduction to the engineering background of modern communication systems, from mobile phones to data compression and storage. Background mathematics and specific engineering techniques are kept to a minimum so that only a basic knowledge of high-school mathematics is needed to understand the material covered. The authors begin with many practical applications in coding, including the repetition code, the Hamming code and the Huffman code. They then explain the corresponding information theory, from entropy and mutual information to channel capacity and the information transmission theorem. Finally, they provide insights into the connections between coding theory and other fields. Many worked examples are given throughout the book, using practical applications to illustrate theoretical definitions. Exercises are also included, enabling readers to double-check what they have learned and gain glimpses into more advanced topics, making this perfect for anyone who needs a quick introduction to the subject.

The nature of distributed computation in complex systems has often been described in terms of memory, communication and processing. This thesis presents a complete information-theoretic framework to quantify these operations on information (i.e. information storage, transfer and modification), and in particular their dynamics in space and time. The framework is applied to cellular automata, and delivers important insights into the fundamental nature of distributed computation and the dynamics of complex systems (e.g. that gliders are dominant information transfer agents). Applications to several important network models, including random Boolean networks, suggest that the capability for information storage and coherent transfer are maximised near the critical regime in certain order-chaos phase transitions. Further applications to study and design information structure in the contexts of computational neuroscience and guided self-organisation underline the practical utility of the techniques presented here.

Recommended by Bill Gates A thought-provoking and wide-ranging exploration of machine learning and the race to build computer intelligences as flexible as our own In the world's top research labs and universities, the race is on to invent the ultimate learning algorithm: one capable of discovering any knowledge from data, and doing anything we want, before we even ask. In The Master Algorithm, Pedro Domingos lifts the veil to give us a peek inside the learning machines that power Google, Amazon, and your smartphone. He assembles a blueprint for the future universal learner--the Master Algorithm--and discusses what it will mean for business, science, and society. If data-ism is today's philosophy, this book is its bible.

Stochastic Optimal Control (SOC)-a mathematical theory concerned with minimizing a cost (or maximizing a payout) pertaining to a controlled dynamic processunder uncertainty-has proven incredibly helpful to understanding and predicting debt crises and evaluating proposed financial regulation and risk management."Stochastic Optimal Control and the U.S. Financial Debt Crisis"analyzes SOC in relation to the 2008 U.S. financial crisis, and offers a detailed framework depicting why such a methodology is best suited for reducing financial risk and addressing key regulatory issues. Topics discussed include the inadequacies of the current approaches underlying financial regulations, the use of SOC to explain debt crises and superiority over existing approaches to regulation, and the domestic and international applications of SOC to financial crises. Principles in this book will appeal to economists, mathematicians, and researchers interested in the U.S. financial debt crisis and optimal risk management."

Fundamentals of Error Correcting Codes is an in-depth introduction to coding theory from both an engineering and mathematical viewpoint. As well as covering classical topics, there is much coverage of techniques which could only be found in specialist journals and book publications. Numerous exercises and examples and an accessible writing style make this a lucid and effective introduction to coding theory for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and engineers, whether approaching the subject from a mathematical, engineering or computer science background.

The present wave of interest in quantum foundations is caused by the tremendous development of quantum information science and its applications to quantum computing and quantum communication. It has become clear that some of the difficulties encountered in realizations of quantum information processing have roots at the very fundamental level. To solve such problems, quantum theory has to be reconsidered. This book is devoted to the analysis of the probabilistic structure of quantum theory, probing the limits of classical probabilistic representation of quantum phenomena.

It has long been recognized that there are fascinating connections between cod ing theory, cryptology, and combinatorics. Therefore it seemed desirable to us to organize a conference that brings together experts from these three areas for a fruitful exchange of ideas. We decided on a venue in the Huang Shan (Yellow Mountain) region, one of the most scenic areas of China, so as to provide the additional inducement of an attractive location. The conference was planned for June 2003 with the official title Workshop on Coding, Cryptography and Combi natorics (CCC 2003). Those who are familiar with events in East Asia in the first half of 2003 can guess what happened in the end, namely the conference had to be cancelled in the interest of the health of the participants. The SARS epidemic posed too serious a threat. At the time of the cancellation, the organization of the conference was at an advanced stage: all invited speakers had been selected and all abstracts of contributed talks had been screened by the program committee. Thus, it was de cided to call on all invited speakers and presenters of accepted contributed talks to submit their manuscripts for publication in the present volume. Altogether, 39 submissions were received and subjected to another round of refereeing. After care ful scrutiny, 28 papers were accepted for publication."

Assuming little previous mathematical knowledge, Error Correcting Codes provides a sound introduction to key areas of the subject. Topics have been chosen for their importance and practical significance, which Baylis demonstrates in a rigorous but gentle mathematical style.
Coverage includes optimal codes; linear and non-linear codes; general techniques of decoding errors and erasures; error detection; syndrome decoding, and much more. Error Correcting Codes contains not only straight maths, but also exercises on more investigational problem solving. Chapters on number theory and polynomial algebra are included to support linear codes and cyclic codes, and an extensive reminder of relevant topics in linear algebra is given.
Exercises are placed within the main body of the text to encourage active participation by the reader, with comprehensive solutions provided.
Error Correcting Codes will appeal to undergraduate students in pure and applied mathematical fields, software engineering, communications engineering, computer science and information technology, and to organizations with substantial research and development in those areas.

Our world and the people within it are increasingly interpreted and classified by automated systems. At the same time, automated classifications influence what happens in the physical world. These entanglements change what it means to interact with governance, and shift what elements of our identity are knowable and meaningful. In this cyber-physical world, or 'world state', what is the role for law? Specifically, how should law address the claim that computational systems know us better than we know ourselves? Monitoring Laws traces the history of government profiling from the invention of photography through to emerging applications of computer vision for personality and behavioral analysis. It asks what dimensions of profiling have provoked legal intervention in the past, and what is different about contemporary profiling that requires updating our legal tools. This work should be read by anyone interested in how computation is changing society and governance, and what it is about people that law should protect in a computational world.

This is the first attempt to delineate the synthetic field of the theoretical study of information, treating information as the basic phenomenon on the fundamental level of the world, encompassing nature, technology, individuals and society. The exploration of information is done within Info-computational approaches, to natural and social phenomena such as Bioinformatics, Information Physics, Informational Chemistry, Computational Physics, Cognitive and Social sciences, with special emphasis on interdisciplinary, crossdisciplinary and transdisciplinary knowledge.The book presents results of collaboration across research fields within info-computational and info-structural frameworks, in attempt to better theoretically and conceptually capture the phenomenon of information and its dynamics (such as computation and communication), as they appear on different levels of organization, on different scales and in different contexts.

Every Thing Must Go aruges that the only kind of metaphysics that can contribute to objective knowledge is one based specifically on contemporary science as it really is, and not on philosophers' a priori intuitions, common sense, or simplifications of science. In addition to showing how recent metaphysics has drifted away from connection with all other serious scholarly inquiry as a result of not heeding this restriction, they demonstrate how to build a metaphysics compatible with current fundamental phsyics ("ontic structural realism"), which, when combined with their metaphysics of the special sciences ("rainforet realism"), can be used to unify physics with the other sciences without reducing these sciences to physics intself. Taking science metaphysically seriously, Ladyman and Ross argue, means that metaphysicians must abandon the picture of the world as composed of self-subsistent individual objects, and the paradigm of causation as the collision of such objects.
Every Thing Must Go also assesses the role of information theory and complex systems theory in attempts to explain the relationship between the special sciences and physics, treading a middle road between the grand synthesis of thermodynamics and information, and eliminativism about information. The consequences of the author's metaphysical theory for central issues in the philosophy of science are explored, including the implications for the realism vs. empiricism debate, the role of causation in scientific explanations, the nature of causation and laws, the status of abstract and virtual objects, and the objective reality of natural kinds

The practical importance of auction theory is widely recognized. Indeed, economists have been recognized for their contribution to the design of several auction-like mechanisms, such as the U. S. Federal Communications Commission spectrum auctions, the 3G auctions in Europe and beyond, and the auction markets for electricity markets around the world.
Moreover, auction theory is now seen as an important component of an economist's training. For example, some of the more celebrated results from the single-object auction theory are now usually taught in advanced undergraduate and first-year graduate courses on the economics of information. The techniques and insights gained from the study of auction theory provide a useful starting point for those who want to venture into the economics of information, mechanism design, and regulatory economics.
This book provides a step-by-step, self-contained treatment of the theory of auctions. The aim is to provide an introductory textbook that will allow students and readers with a calculus background to work through all the basic results. Coverage includes: the basic independent-private-model; the effects of introducing correlation in valuations on equilibrium behaviour and the seller's expected revenue; mechanism design; and the theory of multi-object auctions. The paperback edition of the text includes a new chapter which acts as a guide to current developments in auction theory.

The book gives up-to-date, multi-aspect exposition of the philosophy and methodology of information, and related areas within the nascent field of the study of information. It presents the most recent achievements, ideas and opinions of leading researchers in this domain, as well as from physicists, biologists and social scientists. Collaboration of researchers from different areas and fields opens new perspectives for the understanding of information essential in the innovative development of science, technology and society.The book is meant for readers conducting research into any aspect of information, information society and information technology. The ideas presented give new insights for those who develop or implement scientific, technological or social applications. They are especially for those who are participating in setting the goals for science in general and sciences of information in particular.

The 15th International Workshop on Conceptual Structures ICCS 2007 brings together numerous discussions between international groups of researchers from the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). At ICCS 2007 some of the world 's best minds in information technology, arts, humanities and social science will meet to explore novel ways that ICT can augment human intelligence. The ICCS 2007 workshops include, Rough sets and data mining, Ubiquitous and collaborative computing and Semantic information retrieval. These different workshops provide a platform for dissemination and exploitation of international research and development projects and business applications.