Fundamentals of Natural Computing

Introduction
A Small Sample of Ideas
The Philosophy of Natural Computing
The Three Branches: A Brief Overview
When to Use Natural Computing Approaches

Conceptualization
General Concepts

PART I - COMPUTING INSPIRED BY NATURE

Evolutionary Computing
Problem Solving as a Search Task
Hill Climbing and Simulated Annealing
Evolutionary Biology
Evolutionary Computing
The Other Main Evolutionary Algorithms
From Evolutionary Biology to Computing
Scope of Evolutionary Computing

Neurocomputing
The Nervous System
Artificial Neural Networks
Typical ANNS and Learning Algorithms
From Natural to Artificial Neural Networks
Scope of Neurocomputing

Swarm Intelligence
Ant Colonies
Swarm Robotics
Social Adaptation of Knowledge

Immunocomputing
The Immune System
Artificial Immune Systems
Bone Marrow Models
Negative Selection Algorithms
Clonal Selection and Affinity Maturation
Artificial Immune Networks
From Natural to Artificial Immune Systems
Scope of Artificial Immune Systems

PART II - SIMULATION AND EMULATION OF NATURAL PHENOMENA IN COMPUTERS

Fractal Geometry of Nature
The Fractal Geometry of Nature
Cellular Automata
L-Systems
Iterated Function Systems
Fractional Brownian Motion
Particle Systems
Evolving the Geometry of Nature
From Natural to Fractal Geometry

Artificial Life
Concepts and Features of Artificial Life Systems
Examples of Artificial Life Projects
Scope of Artificial Life
From Artificial Life to Life-As-We-Know-It

PART III - COMPUTING WITH NATURAL MATERIALS

DNA Computing
Basic Concepts from Molecular Biology
Filtering Models
Formal Models: A Brief Description
Universal DNA Computers
Scope of DNA Computing
From Classical to DNA Computing

Quantum Computing
Basic Concepts from Quantum Theory
Principles from Quantum Mechanics
Quantum Information
Universal Quantum Computers
Quantum Algorithms
Physical Realizations of Quantum Computers: A Brief Description
Scope of Quantum Computing
From Classical to Quantum Computing

Afterwords
New Prospects
The Growth of Natural Computing
Some Lessons from Natural Computing
Artificial Intelligence and Natural Computing
Visions

Appendix A: Glossary of Terms

Appendix B: Theoretical Background
Linear Algebra
Statistics
Theory of Computation and Complexity
Other Concepts
Bibliography

Appendix C: A Quick Guide to the Literature
Introduction
Conceptualization
Evolutionary Computing
Neurocomputing
Swarm Intelligence
Immunocomputing
Fractal Geometry of Nature
Artificial Life
DNA Computing
Quantum Computing

Index
*All Chapters contain an Introduction, Summaries, Discussions, Exercises, and References