This ongoing bestseller, now in its third edition, is considered the standard reference on Kolmogorov complexity, a modern theory of information that is concerned with information in individual objects. Written by two experts in the field, this book is ideal for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers in all fields of science. It is self-contained: it contains the basic requirements from mathematics, probability theory, statistics, information theory, and computer science, Included are history, theory, new developments, a wide range of applications, numerous (new) problem sets, comments, source references, and hints to solutions of problems. This is the only comprehensive treatment of the central ideas of Kolmogorov complexity and their applications.
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. Such applications include the randomness of finite objects or infinite sequences, Martin-Loef tests for randomness, information theory, computational learning theory, the complexity of algorithms, and the thermodynamics of computing. It will be ideal for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers in computer science, mathematics, cognitive sciences, philosophy, artificial intelligence, statistics, and physics. The book is self-contained in that it contains the basic requirements from mathematics and computer science. Included are also numerous problem sets, comments, source references, and hints to solutions of problems. New topics in this edition include Omega numbers, Kolmogorov-Loveland randomness, universal learning, communication complexity, Kolmogorov's random graphs, time-limited universal distribution, Shannon information and others.
