Synergetic Computers and Cognition

Hermann Haken is Professor of the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Stuttgart. He is known as the founder of synergetics. His research has been in nonlinear optics (in particular laser physics), solid state physics, statistical physics, and group theory. After the implementation of the first laser in 1960, Professor Haken developed his institute to an international center for laser theory. The interpretation of the laser principles as self organization of non equilibrium systems paved the way to the development of synergetics, of which Haken is recognized as the founder. Hermann Haken has been visiting professor or guest scientist in England, France, Japan, USA, Russia, and China. He is the author of some 23 textbooks and monographs that cover an impressive number of topics from laser physics to synergetics, and editor of a book series in synergetics. For his pathbreaking work and his influence on academic research, he has been awarded many-times. Among others, he is member of the Order "Pour le merite" and received the Max Planck Medal in 1990.

1. Goal.- 2. What Are Patterns?.- 3. Associative Memory.- 4. Synergetics - An Outline.- 5. The Standard Model of Synergetics for Pattern Recognition.- 6. Examples: Recognition of Faces and of City Maps.- 7. Possible Realizations by Networks.- 8. Simultaneous Invariance with Respect to Translation, Rotation and Scaling.- 9. Recognition of Complex Scenes. Scene-Selective Attention.- 10. Learning Algorithms.- 11. Learning of Processes and Associative Action.- 12. Comparisons Between Human Perception and Machine "Perception".- 13. Oscillations in the Perception of Ambiguous Patterns.- 14. Dynamic Pattern Recognition of Coordinated Biological Motion.- 15. Realization of the Logical Operation XOR by a Synergetic Computer.- 16. Towards the Neural Level.- 17. Concluding Remarks and Outlook.- Bibliography and Comments.