Computational Complexity and Statistical Physics

Erscheinungsjahr 2006
ISBN: 978-0-19-517737-4
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 384 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 740 g

Reihe: Santa Fe Institute Studies on the Sciences of Complexity

Computer science and physics have been closely linked since the birth of modern computing. In recent years, an interdisciplinary area has blossomed at the junction of these fields, connecting insights from statistical physics with basic computational challenges. Researchers have successfully applied techniques from the study of phase transitions to analyze NP-complete problems such as satisfiability and graph coloring. This is leading to a new understanding of the
structure of these problems, and of how algorithms perform on them.

Computational Complexity and Statistical Physics will serve as a standard reference and pedagogical aid to statistical physics methods in computer science, with a particular focus on phase transitions in combinatorial problems. Addressed to a broad range of readers, the book includes substantial background material along with current research by leading computer scientists, mathematicians, and physicists. It will prepare students and researchers from all of these fields to
contribute to this exciting area.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Percus, Allan

Percus, Allon

Istrate, Gabriel

Moore, Cristopher

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Sprachwissenschaften
• Mathematik | Informatik Mathematik Mathematik Allgemein Mathematische Logik
• Naturwissenschaften Physik Physik Allgemein Theoretische Physik, Mathematische Physik, Computerphysik
• Mathematik | Informatik Mathematik Stochastik Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung
• Naturwissenschaften Physik Thermodynamik Festkörperphysik, Kondensierte Materie
• Mathematik | Informatik Mathematik Stochastik Mathematische Statistik
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Informatik

Über Autor(innen)

Allon Percus is Associate Director of the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics at UCLA, and a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from the University of Paris, Orsay, in 1997. His research has combined statistical physics, discrete mathematics, and computer science, focusing primarily on local search algorithms in combinatorial optimization. He has organized numerous conferences and workshops on
combinatorics, phase transitions, and algorithmic complexity.


Gabriel Istrate is a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, in the Basic and Applied Simulation Science group. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Rochester in 1999. His primary research interests are in combinatorial, game theoretic, and probabilistic aspects of complex systems. His work in the area of phase transitions has focused on the interplay between threshold properties and computational complexity.

Cristopher Moore is an Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico, and holds a joint appointment in the Computer Science and Physics departments. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University in 1991. He has published 80 papers at the interface between these two fields, on topics ranging from statistical physics and phase transitions to quantum algorithms and mapping the internet.