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).

With this book, the authors are trying to present in a unified treatment an introduction to the central ideas and their applications of the Kolmogorov Complexity, the theory dealing with the quantity of information in individual objects. This book is appropriate for either a one- or two-semester introductory course in departments of computer science, mathematics, physics, probability theory and statistics, artificial intelligence, and philosophy. Although the mathematical theory of Kolmogorov complexity contains sophisticated mathematics, the amount of math one needs to know to apply the notions in widely divergent areas, is very little. The authors' purpose is to develop the theory in detail and outline a wide range of illustrative applications. This book is an attempt to grasp the mass of fragmented knowledge of this fascinating theory. Chapter 1 is a compilation of material on the diverse notations and disciplines we draw upon in order to make the book self-contained. The mathematical theory of Kolmogorov complexity is treated in chapters 2-4; the applications are treated in chapters 4-8.

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.

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 mathematical theory of computation has given rise to two important ap proaches to the informal notion of "complexity": Kolmogorov complexity, usu ally a complexity measure for a single object such as a string, a sequence etc., measures the amount of information necessary to describe the object. Compu tational complexity, usually a complexity measure for a set of objects, measures the compuational resources necessary to recognize or produce elements of the set. The relation between these two complexity measures has been considered for more than two decades, and may interesting and deep observations have been obtained. In March 1990, the Symposium on Theory and Application of Minimal Length Encoding was held at Stanford University as a part of the AAAI 1990 Spring Symposium Series. Some sessions of the symposium were dedicated to Kolmogorov complexity and its relations to the computational complexity the ory, and excellent expository talks were given there. Feeling that, due to the importance of the material, some way should be found to share these talks with researchers in the computer science community, I asked the speakers of those sessions to write survey papers based on their talks in the symposium. In response, five speakers from the sessions contributed the papers which appear in this book.

Contains 27 papers from the June conference, plus texts on which survey talks at the conference were based. Some topics include the general notion of a dot-operator, polynomial vicinity circuits and nonlinear lower bounds, complexity and expressive power of logic programming, upper and lower bounds for some depth-3 circuit classes, time bounded frequency computations, communication complexity of the universal relation, and the bottleneck counting argument. No index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.