MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Fall 2001 Catalogue Supplement

6.291 Seminar in Systems, Communications and Control Research (H)

MR 4-6, Room 34-301
Professor Sanjoy Mitter, Room 35-403, 3-2260
Prereq.:
3-0-9

Topic: Inference, Coding and Decoding and Statistical Mechanics

Recent research has shown that there are deep connections between Inference on Graphs, Turbo Codes, Coding and Decoding of Low Density Parity Check Codes and the Statistical Mechanics of Disordered Systems. The objective of this seminar is to investigate these connections in depth. The seminar will continue in the Spring.

Tentative Topics:

Part I: Convex Analysis and Large Deviation Theory. This forms the mathematical basis of all three subjects.

Part II: Statistical Mechanics of Disordered Systems and Connections to Coding Theory.

Part III: Statistical Inference on Graphs.

Lecturers: Sanjoy Mitter, Andrea Montanari (visiting from ENS, Paris) and others.

This will be a working seminar and students are required to write a term paper and actively participate in the seminar by sharing in writing up the notes of the lecturers.

The class will meet 4 hours/week with 2 lectures of 1-1/2 hours duration each followed by a half-hour discussion. To make it possible for as wide an attendance as possible, suggested lecture hours are Monday and Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m.