Research Talk: Guessing, Source Coding, and Channel Decoding Hamdi Joudeh (TU/e)

Abstract

Suppose that you wish to guess the true value of a discrete random variable through a sequence of queries. The number of queries required to do so is known as the guessing effort, or guesswork. Quantifying the expected guesswork, as well as its higher moments, is the subject of information-theoretic guessing. In this talk, I will review fundamental results in information-theoretic guessing. I will then discuss the central role of guessing in analyzing the performance of optimal lossless source encoders, as well as its role in an emerging class of guessing-based channel decoders.