8,050 research outputs found
The universe as quantum computer
This article reviews the history of digital computation, and investigates
just how far the concept of computation can be taken. In particular, I address
the question of whether the universe itself is in fact a giant computer, and if
so, just what kind of computer it is. I will show that the universe can be
regarded as a giant quantum computer. The quantum computational model of the
universe explains a variety of observed phenomena not encompassed by the
ordinary laws of physics. In particular, the model shows that the the quantum
computational universe automatically gives rise to a mix of randomness and
order, and to both simple and complex systems.Comment: 16 pages, LaTe
Computer theorem proving in math
We give an overview of issues surrounding computer-verified theorem proving
in the standard pure-mathematical context. This is based on my talk at the PQR
conference (Brussels, June 2003)
Will machines ever think
Artificial Intelligence research has come under fire for failing to fulfill its promises. A growing number of AI researchers are reexamining the bases of AI research and are challenging the assumption that intelligent behavior can be fully explained as manipulation of symbols by algorithms. Three recent books -- Mind over Machine (H. Dreyfus and S. Dreyfus), Understanding Computers and Cognition (T. Winograd and F. Flores), and Brains, Behavior, and Robots (J. Albus) -- explore alternatives and open the door to new architectures that may be able to learn skills
A Project Based Approach to Statistics and Data Science
In an increasingly data-driven world, facility with statistics is more
important than ever for our students. At institutions without a statistician,
it often falls to the mathematics faculty to teach statistics courses. This
paper presents a model that a mathematician asked to teach statistics can
follow. This model entails connecting with faculty from numerous departments on
campus to develop a list of topics, building a repository of real-world
datasets from these faculty, and creating projects where students interface
with these datasets to write lab reports aimed at consumers of statistics in
other disciplines. The end result is students who are well prepared for
interdisciplinary research, who are accustomed to coping with the
idiosyncrasies of real data, and who have sharpened their technical writing and
speaking skills
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