(definition)
Definition: The minimum number of bits into which a string can be compressed without losing information. This is defined with respect to a fixed, but universal decompression scheme, given by a universal Turing machine.
See also incompressible string.
Note: From Algorithms and Theory of Computation Handbook, page 29-20, Copyright © 1999 by CRC Press LLC. Appearing in the Dictionary of Computer Science, Engineering and Technology, Copyright © 2000 CRC Press LLC.
Author: CRC-A
Special issue of the Computer Journal on Kolmogorov Complexity (1999), DOI: 10.1093/comjnl/42.4.251 Tributes to, pictures of, bibliography of, etc. Andrei Nikolaevich Kolmogorov.
If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please get in touch with Paul Black.
Entry modified 6 May 2019.
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Cite this as:
Algorithms and Theory of Computation Handbook, CRC Press LLC, 1999, "Kolmogorov complexity", in
Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Paul E. Black, ed. 6 May 2019. (accessed TODAY)
Available from: https://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/kolmogorov.html