The same, but different.

Mr. Jon Cohen (RSISE)

CSL SEMINAR SERIES

DATE: 2005-08-16
TIME: 14:00:00 - 15:00:00
LOCATION: RSISE Seminar Room, ground floor, building 115, cnr. North and Daley Roads, ANU
CONTACT: JavaScript must be enabled to display this email address.

ABSTRACT:
OS X just works. There are two ways in which to interpret that sentence, depending upon whether you like Apple or not. If one takes the parsing-as-deduction approach to language, then it is reasonable that different interpretations of the same sentence correspond to deductions that are, in some fundamental way, different from one another. This is related to the fuzzy feeling that bubble sort and merge sort are fundamentally different, even though they both achieve precisely the same goal. Taking this feeling seriously inevitably leads one to study deductions (or, if you prefer, programs) as geometric objects. More than just an analogy, it is actually possible to make this somewhat explicit by utilising gadgets arising from string theory.

I'll give a breezy introduction to some striking connections between logic, linguistics and mathematical physics (in the guise of topology). All that is required to follow the talk is some familiarity with one of these subjects and a keen sense of adventure.
BIO:
Jon is a PhD student with ANU and NICTA whose broad interests include being heckled by belligerent audiences.