Melissa Antonelli (Department of Computer Science – University of Helsinki) will lead a Philtech seminar titled
On Probabilistic and Counting Computation: A Historical Overview.
The seminar will be held on September 25, 2025, 15:00 – 17:00 at Sala Martinetti – Via Festa del Perdono 7 – Milan.
Since their emergence in the 1950s, computational models capable of performing probabilistic choices have received significant attention and are nowadays pervasive in almost every area of computer science. Their development was also inextricably linked with inquiries about computational power and resource issues. Although most crucial notions in this field are (considered) well known, the related terminology is often imprecise or misleading. This talk aims to clarify the core features and key differences between machines and classes developed in the randomized setting. To do so, modern definitions are compared with original ones, while recalling the context in which they first appeared and exploring the relations linking probabilistic and counting models.
Next seminar:
- October 02, 2025, 15:00 – 17:00 – On counting propositional logic and Wagner’s hierarchy.
