Information Theory

(Formerly EE 376A.) Project-based course about how to measure, represent, and communicate information effectively. Why bits have become the universal currency for information exchange. How information theory bears on the design and operation of modern-day systems such as smartphones and the Internet. The role of entropy and mutual information in data compression, communication, and inference. Practical compressors and error correcting codes. The information theoretic way of thinking. Relations and applications to probability, statistics, machine learning, biological and artificial neural networks, genomics, quantum information, and blockchains. Prerequisite: a first undergraduate course in probability.