Computer Science/Discrete Mathematics Seminar II

Coding theory emerged in the late 1940's, thanks to the works of Shannon and Hamming, as the theory supporting "reliable transmission of information (in the presence (fear?) of noise)". More than fifty years since, enormous progress has been made within this theory. At the same time, some of the most central questions remain mysteriously elusive. In this talk we will survey some recent progress, clarify some of the misconceptions, and lay out some of the classical questions that remain open.