Computational Insights and the Theory of Evolution
Event details
| Date | 20.06.2012 |
| Hour | 10:00 › 11:00 |
| Speaker | Prof. Christos Papadimitriou, University California Berkeley, USA |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Abstract:
I shall discuss recent work (much of it joint with biologists Adi Livnat and Marcus Feldman) on some central problems in Evolution that was inspired and informed by computational ideas. Considerations about the performance of genetic algorithms led to a novel theory on the role of sex in Evolution based on the concept of mixability. And a natural random process on Boolean functions can help us understand better Waddington's genetic assimilation phenomenon, in which an acquired trait becomes genetic, and the emergence of a trait in a population in the absence of mutation.
Bio:
I studied in Athens Polytechnic (BS in EE 1972) and Princeton (MS in EE, 1974 and PhD in EECS, 1976).
Since then, I have taught at Harvard, MIT, Athens Polytechnic, Stanford, and UCSD.
I came to Berkeley in January 1996 (but I was here also in 1978 as a Miller fellow).
I am interested in the theory of algorithms and complexity, and its applications to databases, optimization, AI, networks, game theory, and evolution.
I shall discuss recent work (much of it joint with biologists Adi Livnat and Marcus Feldman) on some central problems in Evolution that was inspired and informed by computational ideas. Considerations about the performance of genetic algorithms led to a novel theory on the role of sex in Evolution based on the concept of mixability. And a natural random process on Boolean functions can help us understand better Waddington's genetic assimilation phenomenon, in which an acquired trait becomes genetic, and the emergence of a trait in a population in the absence of mutation.
Bio:
I studied in Athens Polytechnic (BS in EE 1972) and Princeton (MS in EE, 1974 and PhD in EECS, 1976).
Since then, I have taught at Harvard, MIT, Athens Polytechnic, Stanford, and UCSD.
I came to Berkeley in January 1996 (but I was here also in 1978 as a Miller fellow).
I am interested in the theory of algorithms and complexity, and its applications to databases, optimization, AI, networks, game theory, and evolution.
Links
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- SuRI 2012
Contact
- Simone Muller