Coding Theorems of Information Theory : Reihe: Wahrscheinlichkeitstheorie Und Mathematische Statistik

This monograph originated with a course of lectures on information theory which I gave at Cornell University during the academic year 1958-1959. It has no pretensions to exhaustiveness, and, indeed, no pretensions at all. Its purpose is to provide, for mathematicians of some maturity, an easy introduction to the ideas and principal known theorems of a certain body of coding theory. This purpose will be amply achieved if the reader is enabled, through his reading, to read the (sometimes obscurely written) literature and to obtain results of his own. The theory is ob­ viously in a rapid stage of development; even while this monograph was in manuscript several of its readers obtained important new results. The first chapter is introductory and the subject matter of the monograph is described at the end of the chapter. There does not seem to be a uniquely determined logical order in which the material should be arranged. In determining the final arrangement I tried to obtain an order which makes reading easy and yet is not illogical. I can only hope that the resultant compromises do not earn me the criticism that I failed on both counts. There are a very few instances in the monograph where a stated theorem is proved by a method which is based on a result proved only later. The imminent exhaustion of the first printing of this monograph and the kind willingness of the publishers have presented me with the opportunity to correct a few minor misprints and to make a number of additions to the first edition. Some of these additions are in the form of remarks scattered throughout the monograph. The principal additions are Chapter 11, most of Section 6. 6 (inc1uding Theorem 6. 6. 2), Sections 6. 7, 7. 7, and 4. 9. It has been impossible to inc1ude all the novel and inter℗Ư esting results which have appeared in the last three years. I hope to inc1ude these in a new edition or a new monograph, to be written in a few years when the main new currents of research are more clearly visible. There are now several instances where, in the first edition, only a weak converse was proved, and, in the present edition, the proof of a strong converse is given. Where the proof of the weaker theorem em℗Ư ploys a method of general application and interest it has been retained and is given along with the proof of the stronger result. This is wholly in accord with the purpose of the present monograph, which is not only to prove the principal coding theorems but also, while doing so, to acquaint the reader with the most fruitful and interesting ideas and methods used in the theory. I am indebted to Dr Front Matter....Pages II-IX Heuristic Introduction to the Discrete Memoryless Channel....Pages 1-5 Combinatorial Preliminaries....Pages 5-14 The Discrete Memoryless Channel....Pages 14-32 Compound Channels....Pages 32-51 The Discrete Finite-Memory Channel....Pages 51-60 Discrete Channels with a Past History....Pages 60-77 General Discrete Channels....Pages 77-93 The Semi-Continuous Memoryless Channel....Pages 93-108 Continuous Channels with Additive Gaussian Noise....Pages 108-117 Mathematical Miscellanea....Pages 117-124 Back Matter....Pages 124-125