The three titles below are included in Synthesis Collection Nine

Engineering, Science, and Technology

Author: Wendy C. Crone, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Keywords: engineering research, technical communications, research ethics, project management, mentoring

Abstract: Undergraduate and first-year graduate students engaging in engineering research need more than technical skills and tools to be successful. From finding a research position and funding, to getting the mentoring needed to be successful while conducting research responsibly, to learning how to do the other aspects of research associated with project management and communication, this book provides novice researchers with the guidance they need to begin developing mastery. Awareness and deeper understanding of the broader context of research reduces barriers to success, increases capacity to contribute to a research team, and enhances ability to work both independently and collaboratively. Being prepared for what’s to come and knowing the questions to ask along the way allows those entering researcher to become more comfortable engaging with not only the research itself but also their colleagues and mentors.

Information Concepts, Retrieval, and Services

Authors: Anderson A. Ferreira, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Brazil; Marcos André Gonçalves, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil; Alberto H. F. Laender, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil

Keywords: heuristic-based clustering, self-training author name disambiguation, incremental unsubervised name disambiguation, incremental nearest cluster, automatic disambiguation

Abstract: This book deals with a hard problem that is inherent to human language: ambiguity. In particular, we focus on author name ambiguity, a type of ambiguity that exists in digital bibliographic repositories, which occurs when an author publishes works under distinct names or distinct authors publish works under similar names. This problem may be caused by a number of reasons, including the lack of standards and common practices, and the decentralized generation of bibliographic content. As a consequence, the quality of the main services of digital bibliographic repositories such as search, browsing, and recommendation may be severely affected by author name ambiguity. The focal point of the book is on automatic methods, since manual solutions do not scale to the size of the current repositories or the speed in which they are updated. Accordingly, we provide an ample view on the problem of automatic disambiguation of author names, summarizing the results of more than a decade of research on this topic conducted by our group, which were reported in more than a dozen publications that received over 900 citations so far, according to Google Scholar.

Mathematics and Statistics

Authors: Rajan Chattamvelli, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu; Ramalingam Shanmugam, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas

Keywords: additivity, algorithms, biostatistics, biotechnology, capture-recapture model, combinatorics, electronics, generating functions, highway engineering, mean deviation, negative hypergeometric distribution, Poisson limit theorem, probability distributions, quality control, random variables, special functions, Stirling distributions, Stirling numbers, survival function, truncated distribution, variance generating function, zero-inflated distributions

Abstract: This is an introductory book on discrete statistical distributions and its applications. It discusses only those that are widely used in the applications of probability and statistics in everyday life. The purpose is to give a self-contained introduction to classical discrete distributions in statistics. Instead of compiling the important formulas (which are available in many other textbooks), we focus on important applications of each distribution in various applied fields like bioinformatics, genomics, ecology, electronics, epidemiology, management, reliability, etc., making this book an indispensable resource for researchers and practitioners in several scientific fields. Examples are drawn from different fields. An up-to-date reference appears at the end of the book.

The five titles below are included in Synthesis Collection Ten

Computer Architecture

Authors: Vivienne Sze, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Yu-Hsin Chen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Tien-Ju Yang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Joel S. Emer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Nvidia Research

Keywords: deep learning, neural network, deep neural networks (DNN), convolutional neural networks (CNN), artificial intelligence (AI), efficient processing, accelerator architecture, hardware/software co-design, hardware/algorithm co-design, domain-specific accelerators

Abstract: This book provides a structured treatment of the key principles and techniques for enabling efficient processing of deep neural networks (DNNs). DNNs are currently widely used for many artificial intelligence (AI) applications, including computer vision, speech recognition, and robotics. While DNNs deliver state-of-the-art accuracy on many AI tasks, it comes at the cost of high computational complexity. Therefore, techniques that enable efficient processing of deep neural networks to improve key metrics—such as energy-efficiency, throughput, and latency—without sacrificing accuracy or increasing hardware costs are critical to enabling the wide deployment of DNNs in AI systems.

The book includes background on DNN processing; a description and taxonomy of hardware architectural approaches for designing DNN accelerators; key metrics for evaluating and comparing different designs; features of DNN processing that are amenable to hardware/algorithm co-design to improve energy efficiency and throughput; and opportunities for applying new technologies. Readers will find a structured introduction to the field as well as formalization and organization of key concepts from contemporary work that provide insights that may spark new ideas.

Author: Yongshan Ding, University of Chicago; Frederic T. Chong, University of Chicago

Keywords: quantum computing, computer architecture, quantum compilation, quantum programming languages, quantum algorithms, noise mitigation, error correction, qubit implementations, classical simulation

Abstract: This book targets computer scientists and engineers who are familiar with concepts in classical computer systems but are curious to learn the general architecture of quantum computing systems. It gives a concise presentation of this new paradigm of computing from a computer systems’ point of view without assuming any background in quantum mechanics. As such, it is divided into two parts. The first part of the book provides a gentle overview on the fundamental principles of the quantum theory and their implications for computing. The second part is devoted to state-of-the-art research in designing practical quantum programs, building a scalable software systems stack, and controlling quantum hardware components. Most chapters end with a summary and an outlook for future directions. This book celebrates the remarkable progress that scientists across disciplines have made in the past decades and reveals what roles computer scientists and engineers can play to enable practical-scale quantum computing.

Engineering, Science, and Technology

Authors: Deb Newberry, Newberry Technology Associates

Keywords: nanoscience, nanotechnology, engineering, technology, societal aspects, science, atomic force microscope, undergraduate science, non-technical

Abstract: Nanoscience and nanotechnology, the application of the research-based nanoscale science, have changed significantly over the last three and a half decades. The “bucky” ball, 60 carbon atoms arranged like a soccer ball, and an often-used symbol of nanotechnology, was discovered in 1985 and 4 years later scientists at IBM were able to manipulate xenon atoms on a surface. In the intervening years, nanotechnology has evolved from a singly focused research topic to an understanding that infiltrates every aspect of science and engineering disciplines. In addition, nanotechnology, and both naturally occurring and engineered nanomaterials, have become the focus of legal, environmental, and application and regulation disciplines. The first portion of this text serves as an introduction to nanotechnology: the history, mathematical concepts, and instruments required to study and manipulate the world at the atomic scale. The later portion of the text discusses the connectivity of nanotechnology to the more traditional scientific disciplines as well as emerging technologies.

Learning, Networks, and Algorithms

Author: Harpreet S. Dhillon, Virginia Tech; Vishnu Vardhan Chetlur, Virginia Tech

Keywords: stochastic geometry, Poisson line Cox process (PLCP), Poisson line process (PLP), coverage probability, vehicular networks, vehicular ad hoc network (VANET), cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X)

Abstract: This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the Poisson line Cox process (PLCP) and its applications to vehicular networks. The PLCP is constructed by placing points on each line of a Poisson line process (PLP) as per an independent Poisson point process (PPP). For vehicular applications, one can imagine the layout of the road network as a PLP and the vehicles on the roads as the points of the PLCP. First, a brief historical account of the evolution of the theory of PLP is provided to familiarize readers with the seminal contributions in this area. In order to provide a self-contained treatment of this topic, the construction and key fundamental properties of both PLP and PLCP are discussed in detail. The rest of the book is devoted to the applications of these models to a variety of wireless networks, including vehicular communication networks and localization networks. Specifically, modeling the locations of vehicular nodes and roadside units (RSUs) using PLCP, the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR)-based coverage analysis is presented for both ad hoc and cellular network models. For a similar setting, the load on the cellular macro base stations (MBSs) and RSUs in a vehicular network is also characterized analytically. For the localization networks, PLP is used to model blockages, which is shown to facilitate the characterization of asymptotic blind spot probability in a localization application. Finally, the path distance characteristics for a special case of PLCP are analyzed, which can be leveraged to answer critical questions in the areas of transportation networks and urban planning. The book is concluded with concrete suggestions on future directions of research.

Mathematics and Statistics

Author: Daniel Ashlock, University of Guelph; Colin Lee, Ashlock and McGuinnes Consulting Inc.

Keywords: set theory, proof, mathematical proofs, logic, functions, relations, integers, cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers, enumerative combinatorics

Abstract: This text is intended as an introduction to mathematical proofs for students. It is distilled from the lecture notes for a course focused on set theory subject matter as a means of teaching proofs. Chapter 1 contains an introduction and provides a brief summary of some background material students may be unfamiliar with. Chapters 2 and 3 introduce the basics of logic for students not yet familiar with these topics. Included is material on Boolean logic, propositions and predicates, logical operations, truth tables, tautologies and contradictions, rules of inference and logical arguments. Chapter 4 introduces mathematical proofs, including proof conventions, direct proofs, proof-by-contradiction, and proof-by-contraposition. Chapter 5 introduces the basics of naive set theory, including Venn diagrams and operations on sets. Chapter 6 introduces mathematical induction and recurrence relations. Chapter 7 introduces set-theoretic functions and covers injective, surjective, and bijective functions, as well as permutations. Chapter 8 covers the fundamental properties of the integers including primes, unique factorization, and Euclid’s algorithm. Chapter 9 is an introduction to combinatorics; topics included are combinatorial proofs, binomial and multinomial coefficients, the Inclusion-Exclusion principle, and counting the number of surjective functions between finite sets. Chapter 10 introduces relations and covers equivalence relations and partial orders. Chapter 11 covers number bases, number systems, and operations. Chapter 12 covers cardinality, including basic results on countable and uncountable infinities, and introduces cardinal numbers. Chapter 13 expands on partial orders and introduces ordinal numbers. Chapter 14 examines the paradoxes of naive set theory and introduces and discusses axiomatic set theory. This chapter also includes Cantor’s Paradox, Russel’s Paradox, a discussion of axiomatic theories, an exposition on Zermelo‒Fraenkel Set Theory with the Axiom of Choice, and a brief explanation of Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems.