Abstract
We show how Theory of Computation has revolutionized our millenary notion of a proof, revealing its unexpected applications to our new digital world.
In particular, we shall demonstrate how interaction can make proofs much easier to verify, dramatically limit the amount of knowledge released, and yield the most secure identification schemes to date.
Short bio
Silvio Micali has received his Laurea in Mathematics from the University of Rome, and his PhD in Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley. Since 1983 he has been on the MIT faculty, in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, where he is Ford Professor of Engineering and Associate Department Head.
Silvio's research interests are cryptography, zero knowledge, pseudo-random generation, secure protocols, and mechanism design.
Silvio has received the Turing Award (in computer science), the Gödel Prize (in theoretical computer science), and the RSA prize (in cryptography). He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
