Random Walks in Science

Catalog description

This course aims to address the question of randomness around us. Students will delve into the science of random processes and seek answers to the following questions: How can we study the outcome of something that is random in nature? Can we use "random walks' - a term for processes in which there are no observable patterns or trends - to bypass mathematical challenges or to understand complex processes happening in our daily lives? Are there any governing rules that help us to predict the outcome of random things? How can randomness lead to non-random outcomes? Can we harvest randomness to gain order? Can randomness be classified or characterized? Giving examples from natural and social sciences, mathematics, engineering as well as computer science, the course launches an interdisciplinary survey into the world of Stochastic processes and considers ways in which randomness is shaping our daily lives.