Richard M. Karp facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Richard Manning Karp
|
|
|---|---|
Richard Karp at the EPFL in 2009
|
|
| Born | January 3, 1935 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (BA, MA, PhD) |
| Known for | Aanderaa–Karp–Rosenberg conjecture Edmonds–Karp algorithm Held–Karp algorithm Hopcroft–Karp algorithm Karmarkar–Karp algorithm Rabin–Karp string search algorithm Karp–Lipton theorem Karp's 21 NP-complete problems Vector addition system |
| Awards | Fulkerson Prize (1979) Turing Award (1985) John von Neumann Theory Prize (1990) IEEE Computer Society Charles Babbage Award (1995) National Medal of Science (1996) Harvey Prize (1998) EATCS award (2000) Benjamin Franklin Medal (2004) Kyoto Prize (2008) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer Science |
| Institutions | University of California, Berkeley IBM |
| Thesis | Some Applications of Logical Syntax to Digital Computer Programming (1959) |
| Doctoral advisor | Anthony Oettinger |
| Doctoral students |
|
Richard Manning Karp (born January 3, 1935) is a famous American computer scientist. He is also a computational theorist at the University of California, Berkeley. He is well-known for his work on the theory of algorithms. For his important research, he received the Turing Award in 1985. He also won The Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science in 2004 and the Kyoto Prize in 2008.
In 1992, Karp became a member of the National Academy of Engineering. This was for his big contributions to computer science. He helped develop ways to solve complex problems and create efficient computer programs.
About Richard Karp
Richard Karp was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were Abraham and Rose Karp. He grew up in a small apartment in a part of Boston called Dorchester. His family was Jewish.
Both of his parents went to Harvard University. His father wanted to be a doctor but became a math teacher instead. Richard Karp also went to Harvard. He earned his first degree in 1955. He then got his master's degree in 1956. In 1959, he earned his Ph.D. in applied mathematics. After finishing school, he started working at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center.
In 1968, he became a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He taught computer science, mathematics, and operations research. He was the first associate chair of the Computer Science Division there. He has mostly stayed at Berkeley, except for four years when he taught at the University of Washington. Since 1999, he has also been a research scientist at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley. He leads the Algorithms Group there.
Richard Karp has received many honors for his work. He was given the National Medal of Science. He also won the Harvey Prize and the 2004 Benjamin Franklin Medal. These awards recognized his deep understanding of how complex computer problems are. In 1994, he became a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery. He is also a member of several important science groups.
In 2012, Karp helped start the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing. This institute is also at the University of California, Berkeley.
Richard Karp's Discoveries
Karp has made many important discoveries in computer science. His work includes finding the best ways to solve problems and operations research. Operations research uses math to make decisions. Today, he is very interested in bioinformatics, which uses computer science to study biology.
- In 1962, he worked with Michael Held to create the Held–Karp algorithm. This algorithm helps solve the travelling salesman problem. This problem asks for the shortest route to visit a list of cities and return home.
- In 1971, he and Jack Edmonds developed the Edmonds–Karp algorithm. This algorithm helps find the maximum flow in networks. Imagine finding the most water that can flow through a system of pipes.
- In 1972, he published a very important paper. In this paper, he showed that 21 problems are NP-complete. This means these problems are very hard for computers to solve quickly.
- In 1973, he and John Hopcroft published the Hopcroft–Karp algorithm. This is the fastest way to find matchings in bipartite graphs. A matching pairs up items from two different groups.
- In 1980, with Richard J. Lipton, Karp proved the Karp–Lipton theorem. This theorem shows how hard certain problems are to solve.
- In 1987, he worked with Michael O. Rabin to create the Rabin–Karp string search algorithm. This algorithm helps find a specific word or phrase within a larger text.
The Turing Award
Richard Karp received the Turing Award in 1985. This award is like the Nobel Prize for computer science. He won it for his ongoing work on the theory of algorithms.
His award recognized several key things:
- He developed efficient ways to solve problems related to networks and optimization.
- He helped define what it means for a computer problem to be "efficiently solvable."
- Most importantly, he made big contributions to understanding NP-completeness. He showed a standard way to prove that problems are NP-complete. This helped scientists find many other problems that are very difficult for computers to solve quickly.
See also
In Spanish: Richard Karp para niños
