A Couple of Interesting Papers

Here are a couple of papers that others might also find interesting.

Title: Information-Theoretic Definition of Similarity (PDF)
Conference: ICML 1998

The paper provides a general similarity measure applicable across many domains. The authors insist that their formulation satisfies "universality" and "theoretical justification". Previous similarity measures are domain-specific. The formula is:

sim(A,B) = log P(common(A,B)) / log P(description(A,B))

where common(A,B) is a proposition that states the commonalities between A and B, and description(A,B) is a proposition that describes what A and B are.

Title: An Introduction to Quantum Computing.
Author: Norson S. Yanofsky

The paper gives a taste of quantum computing targeted at computer science undergraduates (and even advanced high school students). Some of the (fun) basic points in Quantum Computing include the following. A quantum can exist in SEVERAL states AT THE SAME TIME (Superposition), but when it is measured, it collapses to either 0 or 1. (in the case of a 2 (qu)bit quantum computer). When two quantums are added, their magnitude can be decreased (Interference).