Complexity Digest 2003.09 - 04
03-Mar-2003
Excerpts: At the heart of the connection between computer science and quantum physics is a knot invariant called the Jones polynomial, which associates a given knot with an array of numbers. The Jones polynomial involves a complex mathematical formula, and although calculating it is easy for simple knots, it is enormously difficult for messy, tangled knots. (...) In the late 1980s, physicist Edward Witten, a major figure in string theory (...), described a physical system that should calculate information about the Jones polynomial during the course of its regularly scheduled activities (...).
- Source: Knotty Calculations, A Quantum Version Of Braids Could Lay The Groundwork For Tomorrow's Computers
[ http://www.sciencenews.org/20030222/bob11.asp ], Erica Klarreich, Science News, Vol. 163, No. 8, p. 12, 03/02/22 - AUDIO - Audible Format
[ http://www.audible.com/sciencenews/ ]
