We delegate more and more decisions and tasks to artificial agents, machine-learning mechanisms, and algorithmic procedures or, in other words, to computational systems. Not that we are driven by powerful ambitions of colonizing the Moon, replacing humans with legions of androids, creating sci-fi scenarios à la Matrix or masterminding some sort of Person of Interest-like Machine. No, the current digital revolution based on computational power is chiefly an everyday revolution. It is therefore that much more profound, unnoticed and widespread, for it affects our customary habits and routines and alters the very texture of our day-to-day lives. This opens a precise line of inquiry, which constitutes the basic thesis of the present text: our computational power is exercised by trying to adapt not just the world but also our representation of reality to how computationally based ICTs work. The impact of this technology is such that it does not leave things as they are: it changes the nature of agents, habits, objects and institutions and hence it subverts the existing order, without necessarily generating a new one. I argue that this power is often not distributed in an egalitarian manner but, on the contrary, is likely to result in concentrations of wealth, in dominant positions or in unjust competitive advantages. This opens up a struggle, with respect to which the task of reaffirming the fundamental values, the guiding principles, the priorities and the rules of the game, which can transform, or attempt to transform, a fierce confrontation between enemies in a fair competition between opponents rests on us.

State-of-the-Art Approaches to Advance the Large-Scale Green Computing Movement Edited by one of the founders and lead investigator of the Green500 list, The Green Computing Book: Tackling Energy Efficiency at Large Scale explores seminal research in large-scale green computing. It begins with low-level, hardware-based approaches and then traverses up the software stack with increasingly higher-level, software-based approaches. In the first chapter, the IBM Blue Gene team illustrates how to improve the energy efficiency of a supercomputer by an order of magnitude without any system performance loss in parallelizable applications. The next few chapters explain how to enhance the energy efficiency of a large-scale computing system via compiler-directed energy optimizations, an adaptive run-time system, and a general prediction performance framework. The book then explores the interactions between energy management and reliability and describes storage system organization that maximizes energy efficiency and reliability. It also addresses the need for coordinated power control across different layers and covers demand response policies in computing centers. The final chapter assesses the impact of servers on data center costs.

In this work we discuss selected topics on small-depth computation, presenting a few unpublished proofs along the way. The four sections contain: (1) A unified treatment of the challenge of exhibiting explicit functions that have small correlation with low-degree polynomials over {0, 1}.(2) An unpublished proof that small bounded-depth circuits (AC0) have exponentially small correlation with the parity function. The proof is due to Klivans and Vadhan; it builds upon and simplifies previous ones. (3) Valiant's simulation of log-depth linear-size circuits of fan-in 2 by sub-exponential size circuits of depth 3 and unbounded fan-in. To our knowledge, a proof of this result has never appeared in full. (4) Applebaum, Ishai, and Kushilevitz's cryptography in bounded depth.

This volume deals with different computational intelligence (CI) techniques for solving real world power industry problems. It will be extremely helpful for the researchers as well as the practicing engineers in the power industry.

Why do computers use so much energy? What are the fundamental physical laws governing the relationship between the precise computation run by a system, whether artificial or natural, and how much energy that computation requires? This volume integrates concepts from diverse fields, cultivating a modern, nonequilibrium thermodynamics of computation.

This is a book about language as a species-typical trait of humans. It argues that language is not so exceptional after all, as according to the authors it is just the human version of a rather common and conservative organic system that they refer to as the Central Computational Complex.

`Electric energy must be treated as a commodity which can be bought, sold, and traded, taking into account its time- and space-varying values and costs.` Spot Pricing of Electricity, Schweppe et al, 1988. Computational Auction Mechanisms for Restructured Power Industry Operation outlines the application of auction methods for all aspects of power system operation, primarily for a competitive environment. A complete description of the industry structure as well as the various markets now being formed is given. A thorough introduction to auction basics is included to explain how auctions have grown in other industries. Auction methods are compared to classical techniques for power system analysis, operations, and planning. The traditional applications of economic dispatch, optimal power flow and unit commitment are compared to auction mechanisms. Algorithms for auctions using linearized power flow equations, DC power flow equations, and AC power flow equations are included. The bundling of supportive services, known as ancillary services within the United States, is discussed. Extensions to the basic auction algorithms for inclusion of supportive services as well as algorithms for scheduling and bidding on generation for GENCOs or independent power producers are presented. Algorithms for scheduling and contracting with customers are also presented for energy service companies. An introduction to the various commodity and financial market products includes the use of futures and options for GENCOs. The material is useful for students performing research on the new business environment based on competition. Regulators will find information on initial methods of designing and evaluating market systems, and power exchange and financial analysts will find information on the interdependence of markets and power system-based techniques for risk management. This information compares the new business environment solutions with old business environment solutions. Computational Auction Mechanisms for Restructured Power Industry Operation provides a first introduction to how electricity will be traded as a commodity in the future.

Provides students with an understanding of the modeling and practice in power system stability analysis and control design, as well as the computational tools used by commercial vendors Bringing together wind, FACTS, HVDC, and several other modern elements, this book gives readers everything they need to know about power systems. It makes learning complex power system concepts, models, and dynamics simpler and more efficient while providing modern viewpoints of power system analysis. Power System Modeling, Computation, and Control provides students with a new and detailed analysis of voltage stability; a simple example illustrating the BCU method of transient stability analysis; and one of only a few derivations of the transient synchronous machine model. It offers a discussion on reactive power consumption of induction motors during start-up to illustrate the low-voltage phenomenon observed in urban load centers. Damping controller designs using power system stabilizer, HVDC systems, static var compensator, and thyristor-controlled series compensation are also examined. In addition, there are chapters covering flexible AC transmission Systems (FACTS)—including both thyristor and voltage-sourced converter technology—and wind turbine generation and modeling. Simplifies the learning of complex power system concepts, models, and dynamics Provides chapters on power flow solution, voltage stability, simulation methods, transient stability, small signal stability, synchronous machine models (steady-state and dynamic models), excitation systems, and power system stabilizer design Includes advanced analysis of voltage stability, voltage recovery during motor starts, FACTS and their operation, damping control design using various control equipment, wind turbine models, and control Contains numerous examples, tables, figures of block diagrams, MATLAB plots, and problems involving real systems Written by experienced educators whose previous books and papers are used extensively by the international scientific community Power System Modeling, Computation, and Control is an ideal textbook for graduate students of the subject, as well as for power system engineers and control design professionals.

Gheorghe Păun has played an important role within a wide range of disciplines, from the foundations of traditional computation theory and formal language theory to research gaining its inspiration from living nature. He has significantly contributed to the development of these diverse fields, initiating and pioneering some of them with remarkable imaginativeness and enthusiasm. Gheorghe Păun’s research focusses on systems inspired by structures and processes found in living systems, with the field of membrane computing or P systems being the most important of his initiatives. This Festschrift volume, published to honor Gheorghe Păun on the occasion of his 60th birthday, includes 16 contributions by his students and collaborators. The research presented aims to gain a better understanding of what computation is, to find better models of computation, and to look for new computing devices inspired by the structure and/or functioning of natural or societal systems. The papers are preceded by an introduction by Solomon Marcus, Gheorghe Păun’s lifelong teacher and mentor, and are organized in topical sections on general computing, grammar systems, membrane systems, and inspirations from natural computing.

The exponential progress and accessibility of computing has vastly increased data flows and revolutionized the practice of science, engineering, and communication. Computing plays a critical role in advancing research across almost every scientific discipline. Computation for Humanity: Information Technology to Advance Society is a guide for the creation of services, products, and tools that facilitate, support, and enhance progress of humanity toward more sustainable life. This book: Provides a deep understanding of the practical applications of computation to solve human-machine problems Delivers insight into theoretical approaches in an accessible manner Provides a comprehensive overview of computational science and engineering applications in selected disciplines Crosses the boundaries between different domains and shows how they interrelate and complement one another Focuses on grand challenges and issues that matter for the future of humanity Shows different perspectives of computational thinking, understanding, and reasoning Provides a basis for scientific discoveries and enables adopting scientific theories and engineering practices from other disciplines Takes a step back to provide a human-related abstraction level that is not ultimately seen in pure technological elaborations/collections The editors provide a collection of numerous computation-related projects that form a foundation from which to cross-pollinate between different disciplines and further extensive collaboration. They present a clear and profound understanding of computing in today's world, and provide fundamental solutions to some of the most pertinent humanity-related problems.