Surveys the mathematical theory and applications such as computer networks, VLSI circuits, and data structures.

Communication complexity is the mathematical study of scenarios where several parties need to communicate to achieve a common goal, a situation that naturally appears during computation. This introduction presents the most recent developments in an accessible form, providing the language to unify several disjoint research subareas. Written as a guide for a graduate course on communication complexity, it will interest a broad audience in computer science, from advanced undergraduates to researchers in areas ranging from theory to algorithm design to distributed computing. The first part presents basic theory in a clear and illustrative way, offering beginners an entry into the field. The second part describes applications including circuit complexity, proof complexity, streaming algorithms, extension complexity of polytopes, and distributed computing. Proofs throughout the text use ideas from a wide range of mathematics, including geometry, algebra, and probability. Each chapter contains numerous examples, figures, and exercises to aid understanding.

The communication complexity of a function f(x, y) measures the number of bits that two players, one who knows x and the other who knows y, must exchange to determine the value f(x, y). Communication complexity is a fundamental measure of complexity of functions. Lower bounds on this measure lead to lower bounds on many other measures of computational complexity. This monograph surveys lower bounds in the field of communication complexity. Our focus is on lower bounds that work by first representing the communication complexity measure in Euclidean space. That is to say, the first step in these lower bound techniques is to find a geometric complexity measure, such as rank or trace norm, that serves as a lower bound to the underlying communication complexity measure. Lower bounds on this geometric complexity measure are then found using algebraic and geometric tools.

The communication complexity of two-party protocols is an only 15 years old complexity measure, but it is already considered to be one of the fundamen tal complexity measures of recent complexity theory. Similarly to Kolmogorov complexity in the theory of sequential computations, communication complex ity is used as a method for the study of the complexity of concrete computing problems in parallel information processing. Especially, it is applied to prove lower bounds that say what computer resources (time, hardware, memory size) are necessary to compute the given task. Besides the estimation of the compu tational difficulty of computing problems the proved lower bounds are useful for proving the optimality of algorithms that are already designed. In some cases the knowledge about the communication complexity of a given problem may be even helpful in searching for efficient algorithms to this problem. The study of communication complexity becomes a well-defined indepen dent area of complexity theory. In addition to a strong relation to several funda mental complexity measures (and so to several fundamental problems of com plexity theory) communication complexity has contributed to the study and to the understanding of the nature of determinism, nondeterminism, and random ness in algorithmics. There already exists a non-trivial mathematical machinery to handle the communication complexity of concrete computing problems, which gives a hope that the approach based on communication complexity will be in strumental in the study of several central open problems of recent complexity theory.

This book deals mostly with impossibility results - lower bounds on what can be accomplished by algorithms. However, the perspective is unapologetically that of an algorithm designer. The reader will learn lower bound technology on a "need-to-know" basis, guided by fundamental algorithmic problems that we care about.

The field of corporate communications describes the practices organizations use to communicate as coherent corporate `bodies′. Drawing on the metaphor of the body and on a variety of theories and disciplines the text challenges the idealized notion that organizations can and should communicate as unified wholes. The authors pose important questions such as: - Where does the central idea of corporate communications come from? - What are the underlying assumptions of most corporate communications practices? - What are the organizational and ethical challenges of attempting truly `corporate′ communication? Clearly written with international vignettes and executive briefings, this book shows that in a complex world the management of communication needs to embrace multiple opinions and voices. Rewarding readers with a deeper understanding of corporate communications, the text will be a `must read′ for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and scholars, in the arenas of corporate communications, organizational communication, employee relations, marketing, public relations and corporate identity management. Practitioners in these areas will be provoked to re-examine their assumptions and habits.

Information design is an emerging area in technical communication, garnering increased attention in recent times as more information is presented through both old and new media. In this volume, editors Michael J. Albers and Beth Mazur bring together scholars and practitioners to explore the issues facing those in this exciting new field. Treating information as it applies to technical communication, with a special emphasis on computer-centric industries, this volume delves into the role of information design in assisting with concepts, such as usability, documenting procedures, and designing for users. Influential members in the technical communication field examine such issues as the application of information design in structuring technical material; innovative ways of integrating information design within development methodologies and social aspects of the workplace; and theoretical approaches that include a practical application of information design, emphasizing the intersection of information design theories and workplace reality. This collection approaches information design from the language-based technical communication side, emphasizing the role of content as it relates to complexity in information design. As such, it treats as paramount the rhetorical and contextual strategies required for the effective design and transmission of information. Content and Complexity: Information Design in Technical Communication explores both theoretical perspectives, as well as the practicalities of information design in areas relevant to technical communicators. This integration of theoretical and applied components make it a practical resource for students, educators, academic researchers, and practitioners in the technical communication and information design fields.