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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Dwave processor

Google Collaborates with D-Wave on Possible Quantum Image Search

Physics / General Physics

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (17) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- Always on the cutting edge of new computing technologies, Google has recently announced that it is investigating the use of quantum computing schemes to achieve faster image recognition rates. ...


Slam dunk for future smart robots

Slam dunk for future smart robots

Electronics / Robotics

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- 'What does the world look like' and 'where am I' are two questions robots must solve if they are to act autonomously in an unknown environment. Work by European researchers will help future ...


Power Rank

New Algorithm Ranks Sports Teams like Google's PageRank

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Sports fans may be interested in a new system that ranks NFL and college football teams in a simple, straightforward way, similar to how Google PageRank ranks webpages. The new sports algorithm, ...





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Scientists find way to catalog all that goes wrong in a cancer cell

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of Princeton University scientists has produced a systematic listing of the ways a particular cancerous cell has "gone wrong," giving researchers a powerful tool that eventually could make possible ...


NICE guidelines ration affordable osteoporosis drugs

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 11, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (December 11, 2009) - Low cost osteoporosis drugs are strictly rationed for the under 75s, and UK physicians hampered by restrictive guidelines, according to findings ...


Modern human brain

Scientists decode memory-forming brain cell conversations

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created 13 hours ago | popularity 4.7 / 5 (9) | comments 0

The conversations neurons have as they form and recall memories have been decoded by Medical College of Georgia scientists.


New results from a terra-ific decade in orbit

New results from a terra-ific decade in orbit

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

December 18, 2009, marks the tenth year since the launch of Terra, one of NASA's "flagship" Earth observing satellites. But the decade is more than just a mechanical milestone. With each additional day and ...



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