The Columbia-CUNY Workshop in Logic, Probability, and Games
Haim Gaifman
Columbia University
There will be a meeting of this seminar on October 18 from 2 to 4 PM in room 4419. Haim Gaifman (Columbia) and Rohit Parikh (CUNY) will speak. Details will be announced next week.
This is a meeting of a joint CUNY-Columbia research group on Logic, Probability and Games.
Description: This workshop is concerned with applying formal methods to fundamental issues, with an emphasis on probabilistic reasoning decision theory and games. In this context “logic” is broadly interpreted as covering applications that involve formal representations. The topics of interest have been researched within a very broad spectrum of different disciplines, including philosophy (logic and epistemology), statistics, economics, and computer science. The workshop is intended to bring together scholars from different fields of research so as to illuminate problems of common interest from different perspectives. Throughout each academic year, meetings are regularly presented by the members of the workshop and distinguished guest speakers and are held alternatively at Columbia University and CUNY Graduate Center.
Professor Gaifman’s first result (obtained when he was a math student) was the equivalence of context-free grammars and categorial grammars. He was Carnap’s research assistant, working on the foundations of probability theory, and got his Ph. D. under Tarski (on infinite Boolean algebras). He worked on a broad spectrum of subjects: in mathematical logic (mostly set theory, where he invented the technique of iterated ultrapowers, and models of Peano’s arithmetic), foundations of probability (where he defined probabilities on first-order and on richer languages), in philosophy of language and philosophy of mathematics, as well as in theoretical computer science.. He held various permanent and visiting positions in mathematics, philosophy and computer science departments. While he was professor of mathematics at the Hebrew University, he taught courses in philosophy and directed the program in History and Philosophy of Science.
Gaifman’s recent interests include foundations of probability, rational choice, philosophy of mathematics, logical systems that formalize aspects of natural reasoning, Frege and theories of naming.