Theory and Applications of Problem Solving (Studies in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence)

Research results obtained by the authors in recent years form the basis of this volume. The motivation behind this research is the authors' belief that more human-like characteristics in problem solving should be involved in a formal representation in order to achieve better performance for computer-based problem solvers. A large part of the material is presented in the language of mathematics, including elementary topology, set theory and statistics. To help the less mathematically-trained readers follow the basic concepts and techniques, basic definitions and theorems are presented before the discussions. A conscious effort is made to introduce simple examples and applications in each topic. This book is designed for graduate students, research fellows and technicians in Computer Science, especially Artificial Intelligence, and also those concerned with computerised problem solving.