92,491 research outputs found
What's Right With a Syntactic Approach to Theories and Models?
Syntactic approaches in the philosophy of science, which are based on formalizations in predicate logic, are often considered in principle inferior to semantic approaches, which are based on formalizations with the help of structures. To compare the two kinds of approach, I identify some ambiguities in common semantic accounts and explicate the concept of a structure in a way that avoids hidden references to a specific vocabulary. From there, I argue that contrary to common opinion (i) unintended models do not pose a significant problem for syntactic approaches to scientific theories, (ii) syntactic approaches can be at least as language independent as semantic ones, and (iii) in syntactic approaches, scientific theories can be as well connected to the world as in semantic ones. Based on these results, I argue that syntactic and semantic approaches fare equally well when it comes to (iv) ease of application, (iv) accommodating the use of models in the sciences, and (vi) capturing the theory-observation relation
Communication Theoretic Data Analytics
Widespread use of the Internet and social networks invokes the generation of
big data, which is proving to be useful in a number of applications. To deal
with explosively growing amounts of data, data analytics has emerged as a
critical technology related to computing, signal processing, and information
networking. In this paper, a formalism is considered in which data is modeled
as a generalized social network and communication theory and information theory
are thereby extended to data analytics. First, the creation of an equalizer to
optimize information transfer between two data variables is considered, and
financial data is used to demonstrate the advantages. Then, an information
coupling approach based on information geometry is applied for dimensionality
reduction, with a pattern recognition example to illustrate the effectiveness.
These initial trials suggest the potential of communication theoretic data
analytics for a wide range of applications.Comment: Published in IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, Jan.
201
Theories, models and structures: thirty years on
Thirty years after the conference that gave rise to The Structure of Scientific Theories, there is renewed interest in the nature of theories and models. However, certain crucial issues from thirty years ago are reprised in current discussions; specifically: whether the diversity of models in the science can be captured by some unitary account; and whether the temporal dimension of scientific practice can be represented by such an account. After reviewing recent developments we suggest that these issues can be accommodated within the partial structures formulation of the semantic or model-theoretic approach
Adaptive group testing as channel coding with feedback
Group testing is the combinatorial problem of identifying the defective items
in a population by grouping items into test pools. Recently, nonadaptive group
testing - where all the test pools must be decided on at the start - has been
studied from an information theory point of view. Using techniques from channel
coding, upper and lower bounds have been given on the number of tests required
to accurately recover the defective set, even when the test outcomes can be
noisy.
In this paper, we give the first information theoretic result on adaptive
group testing - where the outcome of previous tests can influence the makeup of
future tests. We show that adaptive testing does not help much, as the number
of tests required obeys the same lower bound as nonadaptive testing. Our proof
uses similar techniques to the proof that feedback does not improve channel
capacity.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Optimal Information-Theoretic Wireless Location Verification
We develop a new Location Verification System (LVS) focussed on network-based
Intelligent Transport Systems and vehicular ad hoc networks. The algorithm we
develop is based on an information-theoretic framework which uses the received
signal strength (RSS) from a network of base-stations and the claimed position.
Based on this information we derive the optimal decision regarding the
verification of the user's location. Our algorithm is optimal in the sense of
maximizing the mutual information between its input and output data. Our
approach is based on the practical scenario in which a non-colluding malicious
user some distance from a highway optimally boosts his transmit power in an
attempt to fool the LVS that he is on the highway. We develop a practical
threat model for this attack scenario, and investigate in detail the
performance of the LVS in terms of its input/output mutual information. We show
how our LVS decision rule can be implemented straightforwardly with a
performance that delivers near-optimality under realistic threat conditions,
with information-theoretic optimality approached as the malicious user moves
further from the highway. The practical advantages our new
information-theoretic scheme delivers relative to more traditional Bayesian
verification frameworks are discussed.Comment: Corrected typos and introduced new threat model
Is the dream solution to the continuum hypothesis attainable?
The dream solution of the continuum hypothesis (CH) would be a solution by
which we settle the continuum hypothesis on the basis of a newly discovered
fundamental principle of set theory, a missing axiom, widely regarded as true.
Such a dream solution would indeed be a solution, since we would all accept the
new axiom along with its consequences. In this article, however, I argue that
such a dream solution to CH is unattainable.
The article is adapted from and expands upon material in my article, "The
set-theoretic multiverse", to appear in the Review of Symbolic Logic (see
arXiv:1108.4223).Comment: This article is based upon an argument I gave during the course of a
three-lecture tutorial on set-theoretic geology at the summer school "Set
Theory and Higher-Order Logic: Foundational Issues and Mathematical
Developments", at the University of London, Birkbeck in August 201
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