Peter Elias (November 23, 1923 – December 7, 2001
[) was a pioneer in the field of ]information theory
Information theory is the mathematical study of the quantification (science), quantification, Data storage, storage, and telecommunications, communication of information. The field was established and formalized by Claude Shannon in the 1940s, ...
. Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...]
faculty from 1953 to 1991. In 1955, Elias introduced convolutional code
In telecommunication, a convolutional code is a type of error-correcting code that generates parity symbols via the sliding application of a boolean polynomial function to a data stream. The sliding application represents the 'convolution' of th ...
s as an alternative to block code
In coding theory, block codes are a large and important family of Channel coding, error-correcting codes that encode data in blocks.
There is a vast number of examples for block codes, many of which have a wide range of practical applications. Th ...
s. He also established the binary erasure channel
In coding theory and information theory, a binary erasure channel (BEC) is a communications channel model. A transmitter sends a bit (a zero or a one), and the receiver either receives the bit correctly, or with some probability P_e receives a me ...
and proposed list decoding
In coding theory, list decoding is an alternative to unique decoding of error-correcting codes for large error rates. The notion was proposed by Elias in the 1950s. The main idea behind list decoding is that the decoding algorithm instead of outp ...
of error-correcting codes as an alternative to unique decoding.
Career
Peter Elias was a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
faculty from 1953 to 1991. His students included Elwyn Berlekamp
Elwyn Ralph Berlekamp (September 6, 1940 – April 9, 2019) was a professor of mathematics and computer science at the University of California, Berkeley.[Claude Shannon
Claude Elwood Shannon (April 30, 1916 – February 24, 2001) was an American mathematician, electrical engineer, computer scientist, cryptographer and inventor known as the "father of information theory" and the man who laid the foundations of th ...]
. From 1957 until 1966, he served as one of three founding editors of ''Information and Control
''Information and Computation'' is a closed-access computer science journal published by Elsevier (formerly Academic Press). The journal was founded in 1957 under its former name ''Information and Control'' and given its current title in 1987. , t ...
''.
Awards
Elias received the Claude E. Shannon Award of the IEEE Information Theory Society
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines.
The IEEE ...
(1977); the Golden Jubilee Award for Technological Innovation of the IEEE Information Theory Society (1998); and the IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal (2002).
Family background
Peter Elias was born on November 23, 1923, in New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...]
. His father Nathaniel Mendel Elias, born on February 21, 1895, worked for Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...
in his Edison, New Jersey
Edison is a Township (New Jersey), township located in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in Central Jersey, Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan River, Raritan Valley r ...
, laboratory after graduating from Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
with a degree in chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...
. His paternal grandparents were Emil Elias and Pepi Pauline Cypres (daughter of Peretz Hacohen Cypres and Lea Breindel Cypres) who married in 1889 in Kraków, Poland.
Death
Elias died (at age 78) on December 7, 2001, of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) is an incurable, always fatal neurodegenerative disease belonging to the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) group. Early symptoms include memory problems, behavioral changes, poor coordination, visu ...
.
See also
* Elias coding
References
External links
*
Robert G. Gallager, "Peter Elias", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2008)
Peter Elias papers
MC-0606. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Distinctive Collections, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1994 fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery
American information theorists
Jewish engineers
1923 births
2001 deaths
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty
Harvard University alumni
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