Algorithm
hideIn 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.
For more information about Algorithm, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with algorithm
Scientists create first electronic quantum processor
Jun 28, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (58) |
46
A team led by Yale University researchers has created the first rudimentary solid-state quantum processor, taking another step toward the ultimate dream of building a quantum computer.
A new kind of counting: Scientists develop computer algorithm to solve previously unsolvable counting problems
Feb 11, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (33) |
12
(PhysOrg.com) -- How many different sudokus are there? How many different ways are there to color in the countries on a map? And how do atoms behave in a solid? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for ...
First-ever calculation performed on optical quantum computer chip
Sep 03, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (34) |
10
(PhysOrg.com) -- A primitive quantum computer that uses single particles of light (photons) whizzing through a silicon chip has performed its first mathematical calculation. This is the first time a calculation ...
Solving big problems with new quantum algorithm
Nov 09, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (32) |
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 ...
P vs. NP -- The most notorious problem in theoretical computer science remains open
Technology / Computer Sciences
Oct 29, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (22) |
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 ...
Researcher finds optimal fix-free codes
Technology / Computer Sciences
Apr 03, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (21) |
5
(PhysOrg.com) -- More than 50 years after David Huffman developed Huffman coding, an entropy encoding algorithm used for lossless data compression in computer science and information theory, an electrical ...
Being Isaac Newton: Computer derives natural laws from raw data
Technology / Computer Sciences
Apr 02, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (20) |
8
If Isaac Newton had access to a supercomputer, he'd have had it watch apples fall - and let it figure out the physical matters. But the computer would have needed to run an algorithm, just developed by Cornell ...
New tool enables powerful data analysis
Technology / Computer Sciences
Jan 08, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (18) |
4
(PhysOrg.com) -- A powerful computing tool that allows scientists to extract features and patterns from enormously large and complex sets of raw data has been developed by scientists at University of California, ...
New Algorithm Significantly Boosts Routing Efficiency of Networks
Technology / Computer Sciences
Aug 18, 2008 |
4.6 / 5 (14) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- A time-and-money-saving question shared by commuters in their cars and networks sharing ever-changing Internet resources is: "What's the best way to get from here to there?"
Microsoft Researchers Developing Muscle-Based PC Interface (w/ Video)
Technology / Computer Sciences
Oct 30, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (10) |
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 ...
NASA 'Drops' Next Generation Robotic Lander During Autonomous Tests
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 16, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (10) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA has successfully completed a series of autonomous "drop" tests of a robotic lander test article - in a record 10 months - to demonstrate the ability to perform a controlled landing on ...
WPA Wi-Fi Encryption Cracked In Sixty Seconds
Aug 28, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (9) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Two Japanese computer scientists have developed a way to crack the WPA encryption between wireless routes and devices in 60 seconds.
Spacesuits with artificial intelligence may look for life on Mars
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 04, 2009 |
5 / 5 (7) |
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.
Relocation, relocation, relocation: Math could address climate change population concerns
Apr 01, 2009 |
3.5 / 5 (8) |
1
As sea levels rise in the wake of climate change and semi-arid regions turn to desert, people living in those parts of the world are likely to be displaced. A mathematical approach to planned relocation reported in the International Jo ...
Touch typists could help stop spammers in their tracks
Technology / Computer Sciences
Jul 15, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (7) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Computer scientists at Newcastle University are about to give office workers a perfect excuse to play games: it's all in the name of research. Dr Jeff Yan, together with his PhD student Su-Yang ...
