Algorithm

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In mathematics, computing, linguistics, and related subjects, an algorithm is a finite sequence of instructions, an explicit, step-by-step procedure for solving a problem, often used for calculation and data processing. It is formally a type of effective method in which a list of well-defined instructions for completing a task, will when given an initial state, proceed through a well-defined series of successive states, eventually terminating in an end-state. The transition from one state to the next is not necessarily deterministic; some algorithms, known as probabilistic algorithms, incorporate randomness.

A partial formalization of the concept began with attempts to solve the Entscheidungsproblem (the "decision problem") posed by David Hilbert in 1928. Subsequent formalizations were framed as attempts to define "effective calculability" (Kleene 1943:274) or "effective method" (Rosser 1939:225); those formalizations included the Gödel-Herbrand-Kleene recursive functions of 1930, 1934 and 1935, Alonzo Church's lambda calculus of 1936, Emil Post's "Formulation 1" of 1936, and Alan Turing's Turing machines of 1936–7 and 1939.

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News tagged with algorithm

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Solving big problems

Solving big problems with new quantum algorithm

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (31) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a recently published paper, Aram Harrow at the University of Bristol and colleagues from MIT in the United States have discovered a quantum algorithm that solves large problems much faster ...


Deepening the search  for clues to rheumatoid arthritis

Deepening the search for clues to rheumatoid arthritis

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 10

(PhysOrg.com) -- The gnawing pain of rheumatoid arthritis is a signal that the body’s immune system has hit the wrong target: its own cartilage and bone.


A new computer simulator allows to design military strategies based on ants' movements

A new computer simulator allows to design military strategies based on ants' movements

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Nov 06, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 3

A researcher of the University of Granada, Spain, has designed a new system for the mobility of military troops within a battlefield based on the mechanisms used by ant colonies to move using a commercial ...


Spacesuits with artificial intelligence may look for life on Mars

Spacesuits with artificial intelligence may look for life on Mars

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronauts may in future be wearing spacesuits equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) and digital eyes, turning them into what the researchers call cyborg astrobiologists.


NIST test proves 'the eyes have it' for ID verification

NIST test proves 'the eyes have it' for ID verification

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

The eyes may be the mirror to the soul, but the iris reveals a person's true identity—its intricate structure constitutes a powerful biometric. A new report by computer scientists at the National Institute ...


Web site help for students applying to college

Technology / Internet

created Nov 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Two of my best friends are named Pete. We went to the same high school and the same university, Cal State Fullerton, which has been described as "the Harvard of north Orange County" -- by me, at least.


Scene from Minority Report

Microsoft Researchers Developing Muscle-Based PC Interface (w/ Video)

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Oct 30, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (10) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Microsoft researches have teamed up with the University of Washington and the University of Toronto to develop a muscle-controlled interface that allows for hands-free, gesture-driven interaction ...


The explainer: P vs. NP -- The most notorious problem in theoretical computer science remains open

P vs. NP -- The most notorious problem in theoretical computer science remains open

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (22) | comments 5

In the 1995 Halloween episode of The Simpsons, Homer Simpson finds a portal to the mysterious Third Dimension behind a bookcase, and desperate to escape his in-laws, he plunges through. He finds himself wander ...


Calling it in: New emergency medical service system may predict caller's fate

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 21, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Japanese researchers have developed a computer program which may be able tell from an emergency call if you are about to die. Research published in the open access journal BMC Emergency Medicine shows that a computer algori ...


Seeing things: Researchers teach computers to recognize objects

Seeing things: Researchers teach computers to recognize objects

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Oct 13, 2009 | popularity 3.2 / 5 (5) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- If computers could recognize objects, they could automatically search through hours of video footage for a particular two-minute scene. A tourist strolling down a street in a strange city ...


Blackjack, cards

Computing project combats Blackjack card counting

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Oct 11, 2009 | popularity 2.5 / 5 (6) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Dundee graduate has created a computer system with the potential to make the game of Blackjack fairer by detecting card counters and dealer errors.


Gene data tool advances prospects for personalized medicine

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Oct 09, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A sophisticated computational algorithm, applied to a large set of gene markers, has achieved greater accuracy than conventional methods in assessing individual risk for type 1 diabetes.


Twitter tool shows hot tweets when people meet

Twitter tool shows hot tweets when people meet

Technology / Software

created Oct 05, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The first Twitter tool that ranks the popularity of individual messages plans to make the backchannel conversations at conferences and meetings more interesting.


CELL REGZA 55X1

Toshiba Unveils the CELL REGZA 55X1, First LCD TV Integrating the Cell Broadband Engine

Electronics / Hardware

created Oct 05, 2009 | popularity 1.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Toshiba Corporation today unveiled the future of home entertainment, the CELL REGZA 55X1.


Police sketch artist evolves: Computer program uses interactive genetic algorithm to help witnesses remember criminals

Technology / Software

created Oct 05, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Criminals are having a harder time hiding their faces, thanks to new software that helps witnesses recreate and recognize suspects using principles borrowed from the fields of optics and genetics.




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