Preface: Theory and applications of models of computation

Theory and Applications of Models of Computation (TAMC) is an international conference series with an interdisciplinary character, bringing together researchers working in computer science, mathematics (especially logic) and the physical sciences. It is this, together with its predominantly computational and computability theoretic focus, which gives the series its special character. TAMC 2006 was the third conference in the series. The previous two meetings were held May 17–19, 2004 in Beijing, and May 17–20, 2005 in Kunming, PR China. There are already plans for future meetings in Shanghai, Beijing, and Singapore. At TAMC 2006 there were ten plenary speakers, five Special Sessions, each containing four or five invited speakers, and 54 contributed papers accepted by the Programme Committee from the 319 papers submitted. Drawing on these, this Special Issue contains 11 of the best papers presented at the conference, selected by the guest editors. All the papers in this special issue were thoroughly refereed by a wide range of internationally leading experts to achieve the standard quality of Theoretical Computer Science. The TAMC conference series arose naturally in response to important scientific developments affecting how we compute in the 21st century. At the same time, TAMC is already playing an important regional and international role, and it promises to become a key contributor to the scientific resurgence seen throughout China and other parts of Asia. The excellence of the papers to be found here is a fitting signifier of this growing international involvement. We would like to thank Giorgio Ausiello and the members of the Editorial Board of Theoretical Computer Science and the Editors at Elsevier for their encouragement and cooperation throughout the preparation of TAMC 2006, and this Special Issue. Of course TAMC 2006 would not have been possible without the support of our sponsors, and we therefore gratefully acknowledge their help in the realization of this conference. Beijing, April 2007