# Kolmogorov complexity in the USSR (1975--1982): isolation and its end

## TL;DR

This paper discusses the history and decline of algorithmic information theory research in the USSR during 1975-1982, highlighting key figures and the eventual revival of interest.

## Contribution

It provides a historical account of the USSR's isolation in algorithmic information theory and the factors leading to its end, emphasizing the role of Kolmogorov and Levin.

## Key findings

- Interest in algorithmic information theory declined after 1970s
- Levin's seminal contributions shaped modern theory
- Kolmogorov's seminar sparked new research efforts

## Abstract

These reminiscences are about the "dark ages" of algorithmic information theory in the USSR. After a great interest in this topic in 1960s and the beginning of 1970s the number of people working in this area in the USSR decreased significantly. At that time L.A. Levin published a bunch of papers that were seminal for the modern algorithmic information theory. Then he left the USSR, and the new wave of interest was triggered by the talk of A.N. Kolmogorov at a Moscow State (Lomonosov) University Mathematical Department (Logic and Algorithms Division) seminar organized by him; several younger researchers obtained some new results in algorithmic information theory.