Higman's Lemma
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Higman's Lemma
In mathematics, Higman's lemma states that the set of finite sequences over a finite alphabet, as partially ordered by the subsequence relation, is well-quasi-ordered. That is, if w_1, w_2, \ldots is an infinite sequence of words over some fixed finite alphabet, then there exist indices i < j such that w_i can be obtained from w_j by deleting some (possibly none) symbols. More generally this remains true when the alphabet is not necessarily finite, but is itself well-quasi-ordered, and the subsequence relation allows the replacement of symbols by earlier symbols in the well-quasi-ordering of labels. This is a special case of the later . It is named after

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Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics with the major subdisciplines of number theory, algebra, geometry, and analysis, respectively. There is no general consensus among mathematicians about a common definition for their academic discipline. Most mathematical activity involves the discovery of properties of abstract objects and the use of pure reason to prove them. These objects consist of either abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicsentities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. A ''proof'' consists of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results include previously proved theorems, axioms, andin case of abstraction from naturesome basic properties that are considered true starting points of ...
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Subsequence
In mathematics, a subsequence of a given sequence is a sequence that can be derived from the given sequence by deleting some or no elements without changing the order of the remaining elements. For example, the sequence \langle A,B,D \rangle is a subsequence of \langle A,B,C,D,E,F \rangle obtained after removal of elements C, E, and F. The relation of one sequence being the subsequence of another is a preorder. Subsequences can contain consecutive elements which were not consecutive in the original sequence. A subsequence which consists of a consecutive run of elements from the original sequence, such as \langle B,C,D \rangle, from \langle A,B,C,D,E,F \rangle, is a substring. The substring is a refinement of the subsequence. The list of all subsequences for the word "apple" would be "''a''", "''ap''", "''al''", "''ae''", "''app''", "''apl''", "''ape''", "''ale''", "''appl''", "''appe''", "''aple''", "''apple''", "''p''", "''pp''", "''pl''", "''pe''", "''ppl''", "''ppe''", "''ple' ...
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Well-quasi-ordering
In mathematics, specifically order theory, a well-quasi-ordering or wqo is a quasi-ordering such that any infinite sequence of elements x_0, x_1, x_2, \ldots from X contains an increasing pair x_i \leq x_j with i x_2> \cdots) nor infinite sequences of ''pairwise incomparable'' elements. Hence a quasi-order (''X'', ≤) is wqo if and only if (''X'', <) is and has no infinite s.


Examples


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Kruskal's Tree Theorem
In mathematics, Kruskal's tree theorem states that the set of finite trees over a well-quasi-ordered set of labels is itself well-quasi-ordered under homeomorphic embedding. History The theorem was conjectured by Andrew Vázsonyi and proved by ; a short proof was given by . It has since become a prominent example in reverse mathematics as a statement that cannot be proved within ATR0 (a form of arithmetical transfinite recursion), and a finitary application of the theorem gives the existence of the fast-growing TREE function. In 2004, the result was generalized from trees to graphs as the Robertson–Seymour theorem, a result that has also proved important in reverse mathematics and leads to the even-faster-growing SSCG function. Statement The version given here is that proven by Nash-Williams; Kruskal's formulation is somewhat stronger. All trees we consider are finite. Given a tree with a root, and given vertices , , call a successor of if the unique path from the root ...
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Graham Higman
Graham Higman FRS (19 January 1917 – 8 April 2008) was a prominent English mathematician known for his contributions to group theory. Biography Higman was born in Louth, Lincolnshire, and attended Sutton High School, Plymouth, winning a scholarship to Balliol College, Oxford. In 1939 he co-founded The Invariant Society, the student mathematics society, and earned his DPhil from the University of Oxford in 1941. His thesis, ''The units of group-rings'', was written under the direction of J. H. C. Whitehead. From 1960 to 1984 he was the Waynflete Professor of Pure Mathematics at Magdalen College, Oxford. Higman was awarded the Senior Berwick Prize in 1962 and the De Morgan Medal of the London Mathematical Society in 1974. He was the founder of the Journal of Algebra and its editor from 1964 to 1984. Higman had 51 D.Phil. students, including Jonathan Lazare Alperin, Rosemary A. Bailey, Marston Conder, John Mackintosh Howie, and Peter M. Neumann. He was also a local ...
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Reverse Mathematics
Reverse mathematics is a program in mathematical logic that seeks to determine which axioms are required to prove theorems of mathematics. Its defining method can briefly be described as "going backwards from the theorems to the axioms", in contrast to the ordinary mathematical practice of deriving theorems from axioms. It can be conceptualized as sculpting out necessary conditions from sufficient ones. The reverse mathematics program was foreshadowed by results in set theory such as the classical theorem that the axiom of choice and Zorn's lemma are equivalent over ZF set theory. The goal of reverse mathematics, however, is to study possible axioms of ordinary theorems of mathematics rather than possible axioms for set theory. Reverse mathematics is usually carried out using subsystems of second-order arithmetic,Simpson, Stephen G. (2009), Subsystems of second-order arithmetic, Perspectives in Logic (2nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, doi:10.1017/CBO9780511581007, ISBN 978 ...
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Wellfoundedness
In mathematics, a binary relation ''R'' is called well-founded (or wellfounded) on a class ''X'' if every non-empty subset ''S'' ⊆ ''X'' has a minimal element with respect to ''R'', that is, an element ''m'' not related by ''s R m'' (for instance, "''s'' is not smaller than ''m''") for any ''s'' ∈ ''S''. In other words, a relation is well founded if :(\forall S \subseteq X)\; \neq \emptyset \implies (\exists m \in S) (\forall s \in S) \lnot(s \mathrel m) Some authors include an extra condition that ''R'' is set-like, i.e., that the elements less than any given element form a set. Equivalently, assuming the axiom of dependent choice, a relation is well-founded when it contains no infinite descending chains, which can be proved when there is no infinite sequence ''x''0, ''x''1, ''x''2, ... of elements of ''X'' such that ''x''''n''+1 ''R'' ''x''n for every natural number ''n''. In order theory, a partial order is called well-founded ...
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Order Theory
Order theory is a branch of mathematics that investigates the intuitive notion of order using binary relations. It provides a formal framework for describing statements such as "this is less than that" or "this precedes that". This article introduces the field and provides basic definitions. A list of order-theoretic terms can be found in the order theory glossary. Background and motivation Orders are everywhere in mathematics and related fields like computer science. The first order often discussed in primary school is the standard order on the natural numbers e.g. "2 is less than 3", "10 is greater than 5", or "Does Tom have fewer cookies than Sally?". This intuitive concept can be extended to orders on other sets of numbers, such as the integers and the reals. The idea of being greater than or less than another number is one of the basic intuitions of number systems (compare with numeral systems) in general (although one usually is also interested in the actual difference ...
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