MRI/RUI: Acquisition of Instrumentation for Research in Genetic Programming, Quantum Computation, and Distributed Systems

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EIA-0216344Lee SpectorHampshire CollegeMRI/RUI: Acquisition of Instrumentation for Research in Genetic Programming, Quantum Computation, and Distributed SystemsThis proposal from a RUI institution, enabling work in genetic programming, quantum computation, and distributed systems, proposes acquiring a 16-node Linux NetworX Evolocity system for use in student and faculty research. The instrumentation will enable advance in multi-type genetic programming by allowing the user to specify a diverse set of primitives and related data types while simultaneously specifying little in the way of parameters. (Early genetic programming systems forced users to restrict all operation to a single data type to ensure the semantic validity of programs undergoing recombination and mutation. "Strongly typed" genetic programming systems allow the generation of programs that are able to manipulate diverse types.) For the quantum computation area, genetic and other automatic programming will be used to explore the space of possible quantum algorithms and their speed-ups relative to classical algorithms. Since quantum computer hardware is not yet available, the usual hindrance in so doing involves the time required for simulating the quantum algorithms; fitness must be tested using a quantum computer simulator that runs on conventional hardware. Preliminary promising results on problems with unresolved complexity will be employed to seek scaling algorithms for which asymptotic complexity results can be proved. Distributed systems, a primary focus of student's independent work at Hampshire College, will enable students to pursue the development of innovative software and programming techniques for networked, multi-CPU systems.