Physics prodigy wins admirers for network theory
Victor Lam's ideas on network reliability could have implications on the street and the internet
He may only be 17, but physics prodigy Victor Lam Ho-tat is already stunning academics around the world with research that could greatly improve the reliability of power grids, social media networking systems and the internet in general.
The theories of the second-year student at the University of Science and Technology on network reliability could also bring benefits for traffic systems and electric power networks as well as circuit design, his tutors say.
"What is [network] reliability?" Lam said yesterday. "Take a traffic network as an example. Sometimes the roads may not function properly, there might be construction that means they are blocked, or traffic jams. In this case, we say the [network's] links are not functioning."
By using a "genetic algorithm" ranking system that he devised, Lam is able to assess a network's reliability and show how robust its overall structure remains when one or more of the links are damaged.
Even genetic research could benefit.
Lam said IBM's Blue Gene P supercomputer, which is used to analyse the human genome, consisted of "a lot of processors and individual computers" that formed a network. Thus it would be subject to Lam's reliability theories in the same way as any other live network. "More reliable networks would allow us to have better and more secure supercomputers," he added.