Wolfgang Pauli Lectures 2012

The Wolfgang Pauli Lectures are an annual lecture series that is devoted alternatingly to Physics, Mathematics and Biology. They are named after the great theoretical physicist and Nobel laureat Wolfgang Pauli, who was professor at ETH Zürich from 1928 until his death in 1958. The first Wolfgang Pauli Lectures were given in 1962 by Max Delbrück, and over the years there have been many eminent speakers, including a number of Nobel laureats.

The Wolfgang Pauli Lectures 2012 are dedicated to mathematics.

Prof. Avi Wigderson

Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, USA

Avi Wigderson is a professor of Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. After studying Computer Science at Technion in Haifa, he obtained his PhD in 1983 from Princeton University. He held then various visiting positions including IBM Research at San Jose, MSRI Berkeley, and IAS Princeton. From 1986 to 2003 he was associate professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Wigderson has been for two decades a leading figure in the field of Mathematics of Computer Science, with fundamental contributions, in particular in Complexity Theory, Randomness, and Cryptography. He has been invited speaker at ICM in Tokyo (1990), and Zurich (1994), and plenary speaker in Madrid (2006). Among many awards he received both the Nevanlinna Prize (1994), and the Gödel Prize (2009).

The Computational Lens

The advent of computation theory, followed by computing practice, has completely revolutionized our lives. Computational complexity theory, studying the power and limits of computing systems provides the mathematical foundations of computer science and technology. Its investigations has not only led to advances in a variety of computer-related applications, but also to better understanding of other disciplines, including mathematics and the sciences. Common objects of study in these vast fields often reveal new facets when viewed through the computational lens. In this series of three lectures I plan to explain some central aspects of this extensive theory, and their consequences and challenges. The talks are aimed at a general public - no specific technical knowledge will be assumed. Moreover, each lecture is independent of the others. This series is dedicated to Alan Turing, the father of computing, on the 100 anniversary of his birth.

The "P vs. NP" Problem: Efficient Computation, Internet Security, and the Limits to Human Knowledge

Monday, May 7, 2012, 20:15 h, Auditorium Maximum, HG F 30

Cryptography: Secrets and Lies, Knowledge and Trust

Tuesday, May 8, 2012, 20:15 h, Auditorium Maximum, HG F 30

Randomness - the Utility of Unpredictability

Thursday, May 10, 2012, 20:15 h, Auditorium Maximum, HG F 30