ALIFE X
: 10th International Conference on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems
The Complete Idiot’s Tutorial to In Theorio, In Silico, and In Vivo Computation
Topic
In 1936 Alan Turing laid the theoretical groundwork for modern computing science (along with others, including Alonzo Church and Emil Post) by defining what later became known as a
universal Turing machine (UTM). Besides the Turing machine, various other computational formalisms
-most of which were shown to be equivalent in computational power-exist. Today,
computation is more than ever ubiquitous, embraces a wide range of topics, and gives rise to many controversies. What models of computation exists? What are their limits? Which problems are solvable, which are unsolvable by computers and in nature? What problems are harder to solve than others? What computational models are good for what problems? How relevant is the concept of (universal) computation for the design of intelligent machines? Does a UTM really capture the essence of any and all forms of computing? Or, are there
hypercomputers: super-Turing machines capable of going beyond the Turing limit? What is the Church-Turing
? thesis? What are the differences between information processing in nature and in computer science? How does quantum computing work? How will we compute in future nano-scale electronics? What "unconventional" models of computation exist?
Goals
Artificial life seeks to understand, extract, use and abuse the organizational principles and information processing of natural living systems and researchers in this interdisciplinary field are thus all directly or indirectly concerned with computation. The goal of this tutorial is to provide a comprehensive, unbiased, and down-to-earth overview on theoretical and practical aspects of computation in abstract, artificial, and natural systems. It is very important for Alife researchers and researchers working in related fields to be fully aware of the possibilities and limitations of the models they use, not to make false conclusions, and not to have wrong expectations. Recent publications in the field of hypercomputers, for example, have shown the need to clear away false and misleading arguments. This tutorial shall provide the right toolbox for researchers and allow them to ask the right questions and to come up with the right answers.
Details
- When: Saturday, June 3, 2006, 2:00 - 5:30pm.
- Intended audience: Students, researchers, and professionals with any background and expertise, interested in both practical and theoretical aspects of computation in the field of artificial life, biology, physics, and computer science. No prerequistes required.
- Depth versus breadth: Provide the big picture, thus breadth first and limited depth only.
- Tutorial format: The tutorial will be mainly held in a ex-cathedra style. As many examples and demonstrations as possible shall be given.
- Internet access: There will be wireless internet access available in the tutorial room. Bring your laptop if you want to be able to directly try out certain things.
- Tutorial website: http://www.teuscher.ch/alifex_tutorial (i.e., this website)
Speaker
Christof Teuscher
Los Alamos National Laboratory
CCS-1, MS-B287
Los Alamos, NM 87545
USA
