Kolmogorov Complexity and Information Theory \\ {\small \em with an interpretation in terms of questions and answers
Peter D. Grunwald and Paul M.B. Vitanyi
J. Logic, Language, and Information Volume 12, Number 4, pp. 497-529, 2003.

## Abstract

We compare the elementary theories of Shannon information and Kolmogorov complexity, the extent to which they have a common purpose, and where they are fundamentally different. We discuss and relate the basic notions of both theories: {\em Shannon entropy, Kolmogorov complexity, Shannon mutual information\/} and {\em Kolmogorov (`algorithmic') mutual information}. We explain how {\em universal coding\/} may be viewed as a middle ground between the two theories. We consider Shannon's rate distortion theory, which quantifies {\em useful\/} (in a certain sense) information. We use the communication of information as our guiding motif, and we explain how it relates to sequential question-answer sessions.

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EPrint Type: Article Project Keyword UNSPECIFIED Computational, Information-Theoretic Learning with StatisticsLearning/Statistics & OptimisationInformation Retrieval & Textual Information Access 813 Paul Vitányi 01 January 2005