(Apologies if you receive multiple copies of this announcement)
BCS-FACS Evening Seminar -- Joint event with the London Mathematical Society
Games, Interaction and Computation
Prof. Samson Abramsky
Oxford University
5 November 2007
5.45pm
BCS London Offices
First Floor
The Davidson Building
5 Southampton Street
London WC2E 7HA
Abstract
Our current understanding of computation has widened enormously beyond
the original `closed world' picture of numerical calculation in
isolation from the environment. In the age of the Internet and the
Web, and now of pervasive and ubiquitous computing, we see that
*interaction* and *information flow* between multiple *agents* are
essential features of computation. This has required the development
of novel mathematical models of interactive computation. One of the
compelling ideas which has taken root is to view programs as
*strategies* for playing a `game of interaction' with an environment
or context. This has led to a substantial development of Game
Semantics over the past 15 years, and some striking results, notably
the first `fully abstract' models for a range of increasingly
sophisticated programming languages.
The subject is rich both mathematically and computationally. From the
mathematical point of view, there are new categories of game and
strategies, with strikingly novel properties, which yield new insights
e.g. into the constructions of free models of various important
theories. Computationally, the ideas of Game Semantics have been
developed in an algorithmic direction, yielding new approaches to
compositional model-checking and analysis for programs with state,
concurrency, probability and other features.
In this seminar we will provide an introduction to and overview of
these developments, emphasizing the key concepts and intuitions rather
than the technical details.
Refreshments will be served from 5.15pm
The seminar is free of charge and open to everyone. If you would like to
attend, please email Paul Boca [[log in to unmask]] by
>>> 1 November 2007 <<<. Pre-registration is required, as security at the BCS
Offices is tight.
Directions on how to get to venue:
http://www.epsg.org.uk/locations/bcsss-guide.html
BCS-FACS website:
http://www.bcs-facs.org
Evening Seminars:
http://www.bcs-facs.org/events
