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Every human being is aware of the flow of time. This fact is
embodied in the existence of such notions as the past and the
future, the two domains being separated from each other by the
single moment of the present. While the past is regarded as fixed
and definite, the future is viewed as unknown, uncertain, and
undetermined. The only perceivable moment is the present, the `now'
- the ever-changing point moving from the past into the future.
Physics tells us a different story: not only are the vast majority
of physical laws time-reversible, but the concept of the `now'
itself has no place at all in physics. In other words, the
equations of physics do not distinguish between the past and the
future and seem to be completely oblivious to the very idea of the
present. This book discusses the biological and psychological
aspects of perception of time, and the problems related to the
determination of location arising from quantum physics, together
with comments and opinions from philosophers and physicists.
In this book are reported the main results presented at the "Fourth
International Workshop on Data Analysis in Astronomy," held at the
Ettore Majorana Center for Scientific Culture, Erice, Sicily,
Italy, on April 12-19, 1991. The Workshop was preceded by three
workshops on the same subject held in Erice in 1984, 1986 and 1988.
The frrst workshop (Erice 1984) was dominated by presentations of
"Systems for Data Analysis"; the main systems proposed were MIDAS,
AlPS, RIAIP, and SAIA. Methodologies and image analysis topics were
also presented with the emphasis on cluster analysis, multivariate
analysis, bootstrap methods, time analysis, periodicity, 2D
photometry, spectrometry, and data compression. A general
presentation on "Parallel Processing" was made which encompassed
new architectures, data structures and languages. The second
workshop (Erice 1986) reviewed the "Data Handling Systems" planned
for large major satellites and ground experiments (VLA, HST, ROSAT,
COMPASS-COMPTEL). Data analysis methods applied to physical
interpretation were mainly considered (cluster photometry,
astronomical optical data compression, cluster analysis for pulsar
light curves, coded aperture imaging). New parallel and vectorial
machines were presented (cellular machines, PAPIA-machine,
MPP-machine, vector computers in astronomy). Contributions in the
field of artificial intelligence and planned applications to
astronomy were also considered (expert systems, artificial
intelligence in computer vision).
In the book are reported the main results presented at the Third
International Workshop on Data Analysis in Astronomy, held at the
EUore Majorana Center for Scientific Culture, Erice, Sicily, Italy,
on June 20-27,1988. The Workshop was the natural evolution of the
two previous ones. The main goal of the first edition (Erice 1984)
was to start a scientific interaction between Astronomers and
Computer Scientists. Aim of the second (Erice 1986) was to look at
the progress in data analysis methods and dedicated hardware
technology. Data analysis problems become harder whenever the data
are poor in statistics or the signal is weak and embedded in
structured background. Experiments collecting data of such a nature
require new and non-standard methodologies. Possibilistic
approaches could be merged with the statistical ones, in order to
formalize all the knowledge used by the scientists to reach
conclusions. Moreover, the last decade has been characterized by
very fast developments of Intelligent Systems for data analysis
(knowledge based systems, ... ) that would be useful to support
astronomers in complex decision making. For these reasons, the last
edition of the workshop was intended to provide an overview on the
state of the art in the data analysis methodologies and tools in
the new frontieres of the astrophysics (y-astronomy, neutrino
astronomy, gravitational waves, background radiation and extreme
cosmic ray energy spectrum). The book is organized in two sections:
- Data analysis methods and tools, - New frontieres in astronomy.
This book contains the invited and contributed lectures presented
at a meeting organised in the context of the XVIII general assembly
ofthe IAU, held in Patras, August 19, 1982. Roughly one hundred
scientists attended this meeting, the discussions were livel-
sometimes heated - and the original time span allocated to the
meeting was as a result, comfortably exceeded by about 50 % . The
aim of this meeting was to determine the role of galactic gamma-ray
astronomy within the general concept of galactic astrophysics. The
timing, at the end of the COS-B mission, was regarded as opportune,
because it gives interested astrophysicists the possibility for
interdisciplinary studies using the existing gamma-ray data base
(e.g. comparison with infrared, radio, X-ray, etc. astronomies), as
well as for theoretical studies. The next generation of gamma-ray
detectors will probably not be in operation for another 5 to 10
years, and therefore it is hoped that the proceeding of this
meeting can be used (in the intermediate time) as a basis for
further studies, as a stimulation for more theoretical work and as
an important contribution for defining the aims and operation of
future gamma-ray missions. The interrelationship with other
branches of astronomy, the astrophysical implications and the study
of relevant physical processes using available measurements in the
near-Earth environment were important results of the meeting. Many
persons contributed to the success of the meeting, in particular
all those who either presented a contribution and/or took part in
the discussions.
Every human being is aware of the flow of time. This fact is
embodied in the existence of such notions as the past and the
future, the two domains being separated from each other by the
single moment of the present. While the past is regarded as fixed
and definite, the future is viewed as unknown, uncertain, and
undetermined. The only perceivable moment is the present, the `now'
- the ever-changing point moving from the past into the future.
Physics tells us a different story: not only are the vast majority
of physical laws time-reversible, but the concept of the `now'
itself has no place at all in physics. In other words, the
equations of physics do not distinguish between the past and the
future and seem to be completely oblivious to the very idea of the
present. This book discusses the biological and psychological
aspects of perception of time, and the problems related to the
determination of location arising from quantum physics, together
with comments and opinions from philosophers and physicists.
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