"The Computer in the Sky" - Tim Roughgarden, TTIC Distinguished Series

Originally presented on: Monday, May 20th ,2024 at 11:30am CT, TTIC, 6045 S. Kenwood Avenue, 5th Floor, Room 530
Title: "The Computer in the Sky"
Speaker: Tim Roughgarden, Columbia University
Abstract: Turing-complete blockchain protocols approximate the idealized abstraction of a "computer in the sky" that is open access, runs in plain view, and, in effect, has no owner or operator. This technology can, among other things, enable stronger notions of ownership of digital possessions than we have ever had before. Building the computer in the sky is hard (and scientifically fascinating), and in this talk, Tim will highlight three threads in his recent research on this challenge:
Possibility and impossibility results for permissionless consensus protocols (i.e., implementing an “ownerless” computer). Incentive-compatible transaction fee mechanism design (i.e., making an “open-access” computer sustainable and welfare-maximizing). A Black-Scholes-type formula for quantifying adverse selection in automated market makers (some of the most popular "programs" running on the computer in the sky).
The talk will emphasize the diversity of mathematical tools necessary for understanding blockchain protocols and their applications (e.g., distributed computing, game theory, mechanism design, and continuous-time stochastic processes) and the immediate practical impact that mathematical work on this topic has had (e.g., Ethereum's EIP-1559 and LVR for automated market makers).
Tags: #blockchain #robotics #computerscience #computervision #ai #lecture #academictalk