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Effective Method
In metalogic, mathematical logic, and computability theory, an effective method or effective procedure is a finite-time, deterministic procedure for solving a problem from a specific class. An effective method is sometimes also called a mechanical method or procedure. Definition Formally, a method is called effective to a specific class of problems when it satisfies the following criteria: * It consists of a finite number of exact, finite instructions. * When it is applied to a problem from its class: ** It always finishes (''terminates'') after a finite number of steps. ** It always produces a correct answer. * In principle, it can be done by a human without any aids except writing materials. * Its instructions need only to be followed rigorously to succeed. In other words, it requires no ingenuity to succeed.The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, ''effective procedure'' Optionally, it may also be required that the method never returns a result as if it were an answer wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metalogic
Metalogic is the metatheory of logic. Whereas ''logic'' studies how logical systems can be used to construct valid and sound arguments, metalogic studies the properties of logical systems. Logic concerns the truths that may be derived using a logical system; metalogic concerns the truths that may be derived ''about'' the languages and systems that are used to express truths. The basic objects of metalogical study are formal languages, formal systems, and their interpretations. The study of interpretation of formal systems is the branch of mathematical logic that is known as model theory, and the study of deductive systems is the branch that is known as proof theory. Overview Formal language A ''formal language'' is an organized set of symbols, the symbols of which precisely define it by shape and place. Such a language therefore can be defined without reference to the meanings of its expressions; it can exist before any interpretation is assigned to it—that is, befo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metalogic
Metalogic is the metatheory of logic. Whereas ''logic'' studies how logical systems can be used to construct valid and sound arguments, metalogic studies the properties of logical systems. Logic concerns the truths that may be derived using a logical system; metalogic concerns the truths that may be derived ''about'' the languages and systems that are used to express truths. The basic objects of metalogical study are formal languages, formal systems, and their interpretations. The study of interpretation of formal systems is the branch of mathematical logic that is known as model theory, and the study of deductive systems is the branch that is known as proof theory. Overview Formal language A ''formal language'' is an organized set of symbols, the symbols of which precisely define it by shape and place. Such a language therefore can be defined without reference to the meanings of its expressions; it can exist before any interpretation is assigned to it—that is, befo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Undecidable Problem
In computability theory and computational complexity theory, an undecidable problem is a decision problem for which it is proved to be impossible to construct an algorithm that always leads to a correct yes-or-no answer. The halting problem is an example: it can be proven that there is no algorithm that correctly determines whether an arbitrary program eventually halts when run. Background A decision problem is a question which, for every input in some infinite set of inputs, requires a "yes" or "no" answer. Those inputs can be numbers (for example, the decision problem "is the input a prime number?") or values of some other kind, such as strings of a formal language. The formal representation of a decision problem is a subset of the natural numbers. For decision problems on natural numbers, the set consists of those numbers that the decision problem answers "yes" to. For example, the decision problem "is the input even?" is formalized as the set of even numbers. A decision pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recursive Set
In computability theory, a set of natural numbers is computable (or decidable or recursive) if there is an algorithm that computes the membership of every natural number in a finite number of steps. A set is noncomputable (or undecidable) if it is not computable. Definition A subset S of the natural numbers is computable if there exists a total computable function f such that: :f(x)=1 if x\in S :f(x)=0 if x\notin S. In other words, the set S is computable if and only if the indicator function \mathbb_ is computable. Examples *Every recursive language is a computable. *Every finite or cofinite subset of the natural numbers is computable. **The empty set is computable. **The entire set of natural numbers is computable. **Every natural number is computable. *The subset of prime numbers is computable. *The set of Gödel numbers is computable. Non-examples *The set of Turing machines that halt is not computable. *The set of pairs of homeomorphic finite simplicial complexes is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Model Of Computation
In computer science, and more specifically in computability theory and computational complexity theory, a model of computation is a model which describes how an output of a mathematical function is computed given an input. A model describes how units of computations, memories, and communications are organized. The computational complexity of an algorithm can be measured given a model of computation. Using a model allows studying the performance of algorithms independently of the variations that are specific to particular implementations and specific technology. Categories Models of computation can be classified into three categories: sequential models, functional models, and concurrent models. Sequential models Sequential models include: * Finite-state machines * Post machines ( Post–Turing machines and tag machines). * Pushdown automata * Register machines ** Random-access machines * Turing machines * Decision tree model * External memory model Functional models Functio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Function Problem
In computational complexity theory, a function problem is a computational problem where a single output (of a total function) is expected for every input, but the output is more complex than that of a decision problem. For function problems, the output is not simply 'yes' or 'no'. Definition A functional problem P is defined by a relation R over strings of an arbitrary alphabet \Sigma: : R \subseteq \Sigma^* \times \Sigma^*. An algorithm solves P if for every input x such that there exists a y satisfying (x, y) \in R, the algorithm produces one such y, and if there are no such y, it rejects. A promise function problem is allowed to do anything (thus may not terminate) if no such y exists. Examples A well-known function problem is given by the Functional Boolean Satisfiability Problem, FSAT for short. The problem, which is closely related to the SAT decision problem, can be formulated as follows: :Given a boolean formula \varphi with variables x_1, \ldots, x_n, find an as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Effective Results In Number Theory
For historical reasons and in order to have application to the solution of Diophantine equations, results in number theory have been scrutinised more than in other branches of mathematics to see if their content is effectively computable. Where it is asserted that some list of integers is finite, the question is whether in principle the list could be printed out after a machine computation. Littlewood's result An early example of an ineffective result was J. E. Littlewood's theorem of 1914, that in the prime number theorem the differences of both ψ(''x'') and π(''x'') with their asymptotic estimates change sign infinitely often. In 1933 Stanley Skewes obtained an effective upper bound for the first sign change, now known as Skewes' number. In more detail, writing for a numerical sequence ''f''(''n''), an ''effective'' result about its changing sign infinitely often would be a theorem including, for every value of ''N'', a value ''M'' > ''N'' such that ''f''(''N'') and ''f''('' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decision Problem
In computability theory and computational complexity theory, a decision problem is a computational problem that can be posed as a yes–no question on a set of input values. An example of a decision problem is deciding whether a given natural number is prime. Another example is the problem, "given two numbers ''x'' and ''y'', does ''x'' evenly divide ''y''?" A decision procedure for a decision problem is an algorithmic method that answers the yes-no question on all inputs, and a decision problem is called decidable if there is a decision procedure for it. For example, the decision problem "given two numbers ''x'' and ''y'', does ''x'' evenly divide ''y''?" is decidable since there is a decision procedure called long division that gives the steps for determining whether ''x'' evenly divides ''y'' and the correct answer, ''YES'' or ''NO'', accordingly. Some of the most important problems in mathematics are undecidable, e.g. the halting problem. The field of computational ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decidability (logic)
In logic, a true/false decision problem is decidable if there exists an effective method for deriving the correct answer. Zeroth-order logic (propositional logic) is decidable, whereas first-order and higher-order logic are not. Logical systems are decidable if membership in their set of logically valid formulas (or theorems) can be effectively determined. A theory (set of sentences closed under logical consequence) in a fixed logical system is decidable if there is an effective method for determining whether arbitrary formulas are included in the theory. Many important problems are undecidable, that is, it has been proven that no effective method for determining membership (returning a correct answer after finite, though possibly very long, time in all cases) can exist for them. Decidability of a logical system Each logical system comes with both a syntactic component, which among other things determines the notion of provability, and a semantic component, which determine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematical Proof
A mathematical proof is a deductive reasoning, deductive Argument-deduction-proof distinctions, argument for a Proposition, mathematical statement, showing that the stated assumptions logically guarantee the conclusion. The argument may use other previously established statements, such as theorems; but every proof can, in principle, be constructed using only certain basic or original assumptions known as axioms, along with the accepted rules of inference. Proofs are examples of exhaustive deductive reasoning that establish logical certainty, to be distinguished from empirical evidence, empirical arguments or non-exhaustive inductive reasoning that establish "reasonable expectation". Presenting many cases in which the statement holds is not enough for a proof, which must demonstrate that the statement is true in ''all'' possible cases. A proposition that has not been proved but is believed to be true is known as a conjecture, or a hypothesis if frequently used as an assumption for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computable Function
Computable functions are the basic objects of study in computability theory. Informally, a function is ''computable'' if there is an algorithm that computes the value of the function for every value of its argument. Because of the lack of a precise definition of the concept of algorithm, every formal definition of computability must refer to a specific model of computation. Many such models of computation have been proposed, the major ones being Turing machines, register machines, lambda calculus and general recursive functions. Although these four are of a very different nature, they provide exactly the same class of computable functions, and, for every model of computation that has ever been proposed, the computable functions for such a model are computable for the above four models of computation. The Church–Turing thesis is the unprovable assertion that every notion of computability that can be imagined can compute only functions that are computable in the above sense. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
