1st Edition

Fundamentals of Natural Computing Basic Concepts, Algorithms, and Applications

By Leandro Nunes de Castro Copyright 2007
    696 Pages 200 B/W Illustrations
    by Chapman & Hall

    Natural computing brings together nature and computing to develop new computational tools for problem solving; to synthesize natural patterns and behaviors in computers; and to potentially design novel types of computers. Fundamentals of Natural Computing: Basic Concepts, Algorithms, and Applications presents a wide-ranging survey of novel techniques and important applications of nature-based computing.

    This book presents theoretical and philosophical discussions, pseudocodes for algorithms, and computing paradigms that illustrate how computational techniques can be used to solve complex problems, simulate nature, explain natural phenomena, and possibly allow the development of new computing technologies. The author features a consistent and approachable, textbook-style format that includes lucid figures, tables, real-world examples, and different types of exercises that complement the concepts while encouraging readers to apply the computational tools in each chapter. Building progressively upon core concepts of nature-inspired techniques, the topics include evolutionary computing, neurocomputing, swarm intelligence, immunocomputing, fractal geometry, artificial life, quantum computing, and DNA computing.

    Fundamentals of Natural Computing is a self-contained introduction and a practical guide to nature-based computational approaches that will find numerous applications in a variety of growing fields including engineering, computer science, biological modeling, and bioinformatics.

    Introduction
    A Small Sample of Ideas
    The Philosophy of Natural Computing
    The Three Branches: A Brief Overview
    When to Use Natural Computing Approaches

    Conceptualization
    General Concepts

    PART I - COMPUTING INSPIRED BY NATURE

    Evolutionary Computing
    Problem Solving as a Search Task
    Hill Climbing and Simulated Annealing
    Evolutionary Biology
    Evolutionary Computing
    The Other Main Evolutionary Algorithms
    From Evolutionary Biology to Computing
    Scope of Evolutionary Computing

    Neurocomputing
    The Nervous System
    Artificial Neural Networks
    Typical ANNS and Learning Algorithms
    From Natural to Artificial Neural Networks
    Scope of Neurocomputing

    Swarm Intelligence
    Ant Colonies
    Swarm Robotics
    Social Adaptation of Knowledge

    Immunocomputing
    The Immune System
    Artificial Immune Systems
    Bone Marrow Models
    Negative Selection Algorithms
    Clonal Selection and Affinity Maturation
    Artificial Immune Networks
    From Natural to Artificial Immune Systems
    Scope of Artificial Immune Systems

    PART II - SIMULATION AND EMULATION OF NATURAL PHENOMENA IN COMPUTERS

    Fractal Geometry of Nature
    The Fractal Geometry of Nature
    Cellular Automata
    L-Systems
    Iterated Function Systems
    Fractional Brownian Motion
    Particle Systems
    Evolving the Geometry of Nature
    From Natural to Fractal Geometry

    Artificial Life
    Concepts and Features of Artificial Life Systems
    Examples of Artificial Life Projects
    Scope of Artificial Life
    From Artificial Life to Life-As-We-Know-It

    PART III - COMPUTING WITH NATURAL MATERIALS

    DNA Computing
    Basic Concepts from Molecular Biology
    Filtering Models
    Formal Models: A Brief Description
    Universal DNA Computers
    Scope of DNA Computing
    From Classical to DNA Computing

    Quantum Computing
    Basic Concepts from Quantum Theory
    Principles from Quantum Mechanics
    Quantum Information
    Universal Quantum Computers
    Quantum Algorithms
    Physical Realizations of Quantum Computers: A Brief Description
    Scope of Quantum Computing
    From Classical to Quantum Computing

    Afterwords
    New Prospects
    The Growth of Natural Computing
    Some Lessons from Natural Computing
    Artificial Intelligence and Natural Computing
    Visions

    Appendix A: Glossary of Terms

    Appendix B: Theoretical Background
    Linear Algebra
    Statistics
    Theory of Computation and Complexity
    Other Concepts
    Bibliography

    Appendix C: A Quick Guide to the Literature
    Introduction
    Conceptualization
    Evolutionary Computing
    Neurocomputing
    Swarm Intelligence
    Immunocomputing
    Fractal Geometry of Nature
    Artificial Life
    DNA Computing
    Quantum Computing

    Index
    *All Chapters contain an Introduction, Summaries, Discussions, Exercises, and References

    Biography

    Leandro Nunes de Castro

    … well written … a thorough introduction about the relationship of computing and nature.

    —Jan Friso Groote, in Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1130