About

Professor Leonard M Adleman holds the Henry Salvatori Chair in Computer Science and is a Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southern California. He is also a Professor of Molecular Biology by courtesy. His research areas encompass a broad range of topics including algorithms, computational complexity, computer viruses, cryptography, DNA computing, immunology, molecular biology, number theory, quantum computing, and evolution. His work integrates principles from computer science and molecular biology, contributing to advancements in cryptography and DNA computing. As a prominent figure in his field, Professor Adleman has made significant contributions to the understanding of computational processes and their biological counterparts, bridging the gap between theoretical computer science and molecular biology.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Epistemology
• Mathematical economics
• Philosophy
• Mathematics

Selected publications

• Darwin Turing Dawkins: Building a General Theory of Evolution

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2024

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Mathematical economics
  • Computer Science

  Living things, computers, societies, and even books are part of a grand evolutionary struggle to survive. That struggle shapes nature, nations, religions, art, science, and you. What you think, feel, and do is determined by it. Darwinian evolution does not apply solely to the genes that are stored in DNA. Using the insights of Alan Turing and Richard Dawkins, we will see that it also applies to the memes we store in our brains and the information we store in our computers. The next time you run for president, fight a war, or just deal with the ordinary problems humans are heir to, perhaps this book will be of use. If you want to understand why and when you will die, or if you want to achieve greatness this book may help. If you are concerned about where the computer revolution is headed, this book may provide some answers.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• On the Mathematics of the Law of Mass Action

  2014-01-01 · 32 citations

  book-chapterOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• An Algorithmic View of the Universe

  2012-01-01

  article

  In the years since Alan Turing, and following his lead, computer scientists advanced their understanding of computational phenomena by developing a very specialized, original and penetrating way of rigorous thinking. Now it turns out that this "algorithmic" way of thinking can be applied productively to the study of important phenomena outside computation proper (examples: the cell, the brain, the market, the universe, indeed mathematical truth itself). This development is an exquisite unintended consequence of the fact that there is latent computation underlying each of these phenomena, or the ways in which science studies them.

  PublisherDOI

• Pre-RSA Days

  ACM eBooks · 2011-03-22 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  No abstract available.

  PublisherDOI

• The Undecidability of the Infinite Ribbon Problem: Implications for Computing by Self-Assembly

  SIAM Journal on Computing · 2009-01-01 · 27 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Self-assembly, the process by which objects autonomously come together to form complex structures, is omnipresent in the physical world. Recent experiments in self-assembly demonstrate its potential for the parallel creation of a large number of nanostructures, including possibly computers. A systematic study of self-assembly as a mathematical process has been initiated by L. Adleman and E. Winfree. The individual components are modeled as square tiles on the infinite two-dimensional plane. Each side of a tile is covered by a specific “glue, ” and two adjacent tiles will stick iff they have matching glues on their abutting edges. Tiles that stick to each other may form various two-dimensional “structures ” such as squares and rectangles, or may cover the entire plane. In this paper we focus on a special type of structure, called a ribbon: a non-self-crossing rectilinear sequence of tiles on the plane, in which successive tiles are adjacent along an edge and abutting edges of consecutive tiles have matching glues. We prove that it is undecidable whether an arbitrary finite set of tiles with glues (infinite supply of each tile type available) can be used to assemble an infinite ribbon. While the problem can be proved undecidable using existing techniques if the ribbon is required to start with a given “seed ” tile, our result settles the “unseeded ” case, an open problem formerly known as the “unlimited infinite snake problem.” The proof is based on a construction,

  PublisherDOI

• Fast Checkers for Cryptography

  Lecture notes in computer science · 2007-12-03 · 4 citations

  book-chapterOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Breaking the Ong-Schnorr-Shamir Signature Scheme for Quadratic Number Fields

  Lecture notes in computer science · 2007-02-28 · 24 citations

  book-chapterOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Subexponential Algorithm for Discrete Logarithms over All Finite Fields

  Lecture notes in computer science · 2007-08-05 · 48 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Self-Assembly of DNA Double-Double Crossover Complexes into High-Density, Doubly Connected, Planar Structures

  Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2005-11-24 · 96 citations

  articleSenior author

  We designed a molecular complex, the double-double crossover, consisting of four DNA double helices connected by six reciprocal exchanges. Atomic force micrographs suggest that double-double crossover complexes self-assemble into high-density, doubly connected, two-dimensional, planar structures. Such structures may be suitable as substrates for the deposition of nanomaterials in the creation of high-density electrical and quantum devices. We speculate about a modified double-double crossover complex that might self-assemble into high-density, doubly connected, three-dimensional structures.

  PublisherDOI

• DNA Triangles and Self-Assembled Hexagonal Tilings

  Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2004-10-08 · 125 citations

  articleSenior author

  We have designed and constructed DNA complexes in the form of triangles. We have created hexagonal planar tilings from these triangles via self-assembly. Unlike previously reported structures self-assembled from DNA, our structures appear to involve bending of double helices. Bending helices may be a useful design option in the creation of self-assembled DNA structures. It has been suggested that DNA self-assembly may lead to novel materials and efficient computational devices.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DNA Self Assembly: Experimentation and Theoretical Foundations

  NSF · $1.4M · 2003–2007

Frequent coauthors

• Ming-Deh A. Huang

  Southern California University for Professional Studies

  47 shared

• Jan Van Leeuwen

  Hong Kong Association of Registered Tour Co-ordinators

  16 shared

• Gerhard Goos

  Utrecht University

  16 shared

• Kireeti Kompella

  14 shared

• N. V. Chelyapov

  10 shared

• Kevin S. McCurley

  9 shared

• Paul W. K. Rothemund

  California Institute of Technology

  9 shared

• Kenneth L. Manders

  Andrews University

  8 shared

Education

• B.S., Mathematics

  University of California, Los Angeles

  1970

• M.S., Mathematics

  University of California, Los Angeles

  1972

• Ph.D., Mathematics

  University of California, Los Angeles

  1975

Awards & honors

• Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award (1996)
• IEEE Kobayashi Award for Computers and Communications (2000)
• University of Southern California Distinguished Professor (2…
• MIT RSA Chair (1997)
• ACM ACM Paris Kanallakis Award for Theory and Practice (1996…