[Binghamton Geometry/Topology Seminar] October 29

[Marco Varisco]

Binghamton Geometry/Topology Seminar
http://www.math.binghamton.edu/dept/topsem/

Date: Thursday, October 29, 2009

Time: 2:50 pm

Place: Library North 2205
(followed by coffee/tea in the Anderson Reading Room)

Speaker: James Worthington (Cornell University)

Title: Monoidal categories, bialgebras, and automata

Abstract: Finite automata capture the notion of computation with a
finite amount of memory and are a fundamental notion in computer
science. In this talk, I will discuss encoding automata as
representations of a monoid in a monoidal category. A morphism of
representations can be interpreted as a proof that two automata accept
the same language.
Using this encoding, I will show that many constructions from the
theory of automata are in fact instances of general constructions in
monoidal categories and explain the relation between automata and
representations of a bialgebra. I will explain how this work relates
to uses of coalgebras in computer science and indicate how theorems
about representations of a bialgebra might shed light on questions of
complexity theory.
I will not assume any knowledge of computer science in this talk.