Selling category theory to the masses: a tale of food, spiders and Google

Fri, 20/01/2012
10:30
Bob Coecke (Oxford) Quantum Mathematics and Computation Add to calendar Room 051, Department of Computer Science

We will demonstrate the following. Category theory, usually conceived as some very abstract form of metamathematics, is present everywhere around us. Explicitly, we show how it provides a kindergarten version of quantum theory, an how it will help Google to understand sentences rather than words.

Some references are:

-[light] BC (2010) "Quantum picturalism". Contemporary Physics 51, 59-83. arXiv:0908.1787 
-[a bit heavier] BC and Ross Duncan (2011) "Interacting quantum observables: categorical algebra and diagrammatics". New Journal of Physics 13, 043016. arXiv:0906.4725
-[light] New Scientist (8 December 2010) "Quantum links let computers understand language". www.cs.ox.ac.uk/people/bob.coecke/NewScientist.pdf
-[a bit heavier] BC, Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh and Stephen Clark (2011) "Mathematical foundations for a compositional distributional model of meaning". Linguistic Analysis - Lambek Festschrift. arXiv:1003.439