Synopses & Reviews
Important work on a new framework for information retrieval: implications for artificial intelligence, natural language processing.
Review
"This is a very interesting book, which appears to provide a solid foundation for future research...van Rijsbergen's explanations are well written and logical. In addition, there are many pointers to other sources of relevant information. This book would be of particular interest to those conducting IR, Artificial Intelligence or Cognitive Science research. The novel approach may also be of interest to web search engine developers. As the author points out, this book could also provide a useful introduction to quantum computation, as most of the required mathematics is included...In conclusion, this is a clearly written and thought-provoking book that has been a pleasure to read. It is highly recommended."
IAPR Newsletter
Synopsis
The author shows how different models of information retrieval can be combined in the same framework used to formulate quantum mechanics. The relation with quantum computing is also examined. Appendices with background on physics and mathematics are included. This is an important, ground-breaking book, with much new and original material.
Table of Contents
Preface; Prologue; 1. Introduction; 2. On sets and kinds in IR; 3. Vector and Hilbert spaces; 4. Linear transformations, operators and matrices; 5. Conditional logic in IR; 6. The geometry of IR; Appendix I. Linear algebra; Appendix II. Quantum mechanics; Appendix III. Probability; Bibliography; Index.