Hypercomputation is a relatively new theory of computation which treats computing methods and devices that transcend the Church-Turing thesis. This book will provide a thorough description of the field of hypercomputation, covering all attempts at devising conceptual hypermachines and all new promising computational paradigms that may eventually lead to the construction of a hypermachine.
Readers will reach a deeper understanding of what computability is and why the Church-Turing thesis poses an arbitrary limit to what actually can be computed. Hypercomputing is quite a novel idea, and therefore the book is interesting to the reader in its own right. The most significant features of the book, however, will be the descriptions of the various attempts of hypercomputation: from trial-and-error machines to the exploration of the human mind treated as a device with computational abilities. Hypercomputation: Computing Beyond the Church-Turing Barrier is fairly self-contained but requires a solid background in mathematics (calculus, discrete mathematics, algebra, and topology).
Topics and Features:
* Comprehensive examination of the hypercomputation field
* In-depth presentation of the current status of computation and its potential
* Philosophical and pragmatic approach to the limits of computation
* The human mind treated as a device with computational abilities, and its possible implications
* New, promising computing paradigms
This state-of-the-art monograph will be of interest to those interested in exploring this exciting new branch of Computer Science. It will be of particular interest to academics, engineers, and researchers in Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics.
Hypercomputation is a relatively new theory of computation that is about computing methods and devices that transcend the so-called Church-Turing thesis.
This book deals exclusively with the topic and presents a thorough description of hypercomputation. It covers all attempts at devising conceptual hypermachines and all new promising computational paradigms that may eventually lead to the construction of a hypermachine. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of what computability is, and why the Church-Turing thesis poses an arbitrary limit to what can be actually computed. Hypercomputing is a comparatively novel idea and as such the book is interesting in its own right. The most important features of the book, however, are its thorough description of the various attempts of hypercomputation, from trial-and-error machines to the exploration of the human mind, if we treat it as a computing device.
Apostolos Syropoulos
Church-Turing Thesis Turing machine computability computer geometry hyperminds infinite-time pseudorecursiveness theory of computation algorithm analysis and problem complexity
From the reviews:
"During the last two decades hypercomputation has attracted more and more interest within computer science. … The present book gives an introduction to several such approaches. … this is the first attempt to collect such material in book form. … For somebody interested in hypercomputation the book is a good start in order to get an idea about different questions and approaches relevant in that area." (Klaus Meer, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2009 j)
“To anyone unfamiliar with the notion of hypercomputation picking up this book, it will be an intriguing and informative volume. … It will be very informative for someone coming from outside, say at graduate or advanced undergraduate, level who wants to find out what all the fuss of hypercomputation is about.” (P. D. Welch, Studia Logica, Vol. 96, 2010)