computer science

Peter G. Harrison

Peter G. Harrison is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Peter G. Harrison rather than just read about it. In short: Peter George Harrison (born 1951) is an Emeritus Professor of Computing Science at Imperial College London known for the reversed compound agent theorem, which gives conditions for a stochastic network to have a product-form solution. Harrison attended Christ's College, Cambridge, where he was a Wrangler in Mathematics (1972) and gained a Distinction in Part III of the Mathematical Tripos (1973), winning the Mayhew…

Key takeaways

Peter G. Harrison belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Peter G. Harrison to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Peter G. Harrison from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Peter George Harrison (born 1951) is an Emeritus Professor of Computing Science at Imperial College London known for the reversed compound agent theorem, which gives conditions for a stochastic network to have a product-form solution. Harrison attended Christ's College, Cambridge, where he was a Wrangler in Mathematics (1972) and gained a Distinction in Part III of the Mathematical Tripos (1973), winning the Mayhew Prize for Applied Mathematics. After spending two years in industry, Harrison moved to Imperial College, London where he has worked since, obtaining his Ph.D. in Computing Science in 1979 with a thesis titled "Representative queueing network models of computer systems in terms of time delay probability distributions" and lecturing since 1983. Current research interests include parallel algorithms, performance engineering, queueing theory, stochastic models and stochastic process algebra, particularly the application of RCAT to find product-form solutions. Harrison has coauthored two books, Functional Programming with Tony Field, and Performance Modelling of Communication Networks and Computer Architectures with Naresh Patel and published over 150 papers. Harrison is an associate editor of The Computer Journal. Via Saharon Shelah and Dov Gabbay, Harrison has an Erdős number of 3.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Peter G. Harrison

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Peter G. Harrison claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Peter G. Harrison before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Peter G. Harrison ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Peter G. Harrison

In research: Peter G. Harrison appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Peter G. Harrison in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Peter G. Harrison is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1951 births, Academics of the Department of Computing, Imperial College London, Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Peter G. Harrison outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Peter G. Harrison in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Peter G. Harrison means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Peter G. Harrison out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Peter G. Harrison in simple terms?

Why does Peter G. Harrison matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Peter G. Harrison?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Peter G. Harrison.