On universal algorithms for classifying and predicting stationary processes*

This is a survey of results on universal algorithms for classification and prediction of stationary processes. The classification problems include discovering the order of a k-step Markov chain, determining memory words in finitarily Markovian processes and estimating the entropy of an unknown process. The prediction problems cover both discrete and real valued processes in a variety of situations. Both the forward and the backward prediction problems are discussed with the emphasis being on pointwise results. This survey is just a teaser. The purpose is merely to call attention to results on classification and prediction. We will refer the interested reader to the sources. Throughout the paper we will give illuminating examples.