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Post's Theorem
In computability theory Post's theorem, named after Emil Post, describes the connection between the arithmetical hierarchy and the Turing degrees. Background The statement of Post's theorem uses several concepts relating to definability and recursion theory. This section gives a brief overview of these concepts, which are covered in depth in their respective articles. The arithmetical hierarchy classifies certain sets of natural numbers that are definable in the language of Peano arithmetic. A formula is said to be \Sigma^_m if it is an existential statement in prenex normal form (all quantifiers at the front) with m alternations between existential and universal quantifiers applied to a formula with bounded quantifiers only. Formally a formula \phi(s) in the language of Peano arithmetic is a \Sigma^_m formula if it is of the form :\left(\exists n^1_1\exists n^1_2\cdots\exists n^1_\right)\left(\forall n^2_1 \cdots \forall n^2_\right)\left(\exists n^3_1\cdots\right)\cdots\ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recursion Theory
Computability theory, also known as recursion theory, is a branch of mathematical logic, computer science, and the theory of computation that originated in the 1930s with the study of computable functions and Turing degrees. The field has since expanded to include the study of generalized computability and definability. In these areas, computability theory overlaps with proof theory and effective descriptive set theory. Basic questions addressed by computability theory include: * What does it mean for a function on the natural numbers to be computable? * How can noncomputable functions be classified into a hierarchy based on their level of noncomputability? Although there is considerable overlap in terms of knowledge and methods, mathematical computability theorists study the theory of relative computability, reducibility notions, and degree structures; those in the computer science field focus on the theory of subrecursive hierarchies, formal methods, and formal languages. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Many-one Reduction
In computability theory and computational complexity theory, a many-one reduction (also called mapping reduction) is a reduction which converts instances of one decision problem L_1 into instances of a second decision problem L_2 where the instance reduced to is in the language L_2 if the initial instance was in its language L_1 and is not in the language L_2 if the initial instance was not in its language L_1. Thus if we can decide whether L_2 instances are in the language L_2, we can decide whether L_1 instances are in its language by applying the reduction and solving L_2. Thus, reductions can be used to measure the relative computational difficulty of two problems. It is said that L_1 reduces to L_2 if, in layman's terms L_2 is harder to solve than L_1. That is to say, any algorithm that solves L_2 can also be used as part of a (otherwise relatively simple) program that solves L_1. Many-one reductions are a special case and stronger form of Turing reductions. With many-one red ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theorems In The Foundations Of Mathematics
In mathematics, a theorem is a statement that has been proved, or can be proved. The ''proof'' of a theorem is a logical argument that uses the inference rules of a deductive system to establish that the theorem is a logical consequence of the axioms and previously proved theorems. In the mainstream of mathematics, the axioms and the inference rules are commonly left implicit, and, in this case, they are almost always those of Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory with the axiom of choice, or of a less powerful theory, such as Peano arithmetic. A notable exception is Wiles's proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, which involves the Grothendieck universes whose existence requires the addition of a new axiom to the set theory. Generally, an assertion that is explicitly called a theorem is a proved result that is not an immediate consequence of other known theorems. Moreover, many authors qualify as ''theorems'' only the most important results, and use the terms ''lemma'', ''proposition'' and '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oracle Machine
In complexity theory and computability theory, an oracle machine is an abstract machine used to study decision problems. It can be visualized as a Turing machine with a black box, called an oracle, which is able to solve certain problems in a single operation. The problem can be of any complexity class. Even undecidable problems, such as the halting problem, can be used. Oracles An oracle machine can be conceived as a Turing machine connected to an oracle. The oracle, in this context, is an entity capable of solving some problem, which for example may be a decision problem or a function problem. The problem does not have to be computable; the oracle is not assumed to be a Turing machine or computer program. The oracle is simply a "black box" that is able to produce a solution for any instance of a given computational problem: * A decision problem is represented as a set ''A'' of natural numbers (or strings). An instance of the problem is an arbitrary natural number (or string ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Quantifier
In mathematical logic, a universal quantification is a type of quantifier, a logical constant which is interpreted as "given any" or "for all". It expresses that a predicate can be satisfied by every member of a domain of discourse. In other words, it is the predication of a property or relation to every member of the domain. It asserts that a predicate within the scope of a universal quantifier is true of every value of a predicate variable. It is usually denoted by the turned A (∀) logical operator symbol, which, when used together with a predicate variable, is called a universal quantifier ("", "", or sometimes by "" alone). Universal quantification is distinct from ''existential'' quantification ("there exists"), which only asserts that the property or relation holds for at least one member of the domain. Quantification in general is covered in the article on quantification (logic). The universal quantifier is encoded as in Unicode, and as \forall in LaTeX and relate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantifier-free Formula
In mathematical logic, propositional logic and predicate logic, a well-formed formula, abbreviated WFF or wff, often simply formula, is a finite sequence of symbols from a given alphabet that is part of a formal language. A formal language can be identified with the set of formulas in the language. A formula is a syntactic object that can be given a semantic meaning by means of an interpretation. Two key uses of formulas are in propositional logic and predicate logic. Introduction A key use of formulas is in propositional logic and predicate logic such as first-order logic. In those contexts, a formula is a string of symbols φ for which it makes sense to ask "is φ true?", once any free variables in φ have been instantiated. In formal logic, proofs can be represented by sequences of formulas with certain properties, and the final formula in the sequence is what is proven. Although the term "formula" may be used for written marks (for instance, on a piece of paper or ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Least Significant Bit
In computing, bit numbering is the convention used to identify the bit positions in a binary number. Bit significance and indexing In computing, the least significant bit (LSB) is the bit position in a binary integer representing the binary 1s place of the integer. Similarly, the most significant bit (MSB) represents the highest-order place of the binary integer. The LSB is sometimes referred to as the ''low-order bit'' or ''right-most bit'', due to the convention in positional notation of writing less significant digits further to the right. The MSB is similarly referred to as the ''high-order bit'' or ''left-most bit''. In both cases, the LSB and MSB correlate directly to the least significant digit and most significant digit of a decimal integer. Bit indexing correlates to the positional notation of the value in base 2. For this reason, bit index is not affected by how the value is stored on the device, such as the value's byte order. Rather, it is a property of the numeri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arity
Arity () is the number of arguments or operands taken by a function, operation or relation in logic, mathematics, and computer science. In mathematics, arity may also be named ''rank'', but this word can have many other meanings in mathematics. In logic and philosophy, it is also called adicity and degree. In linguistics, it is usually named valency. Examples The term "arity" is rarely employed in everyday usage. For example, rather than saying "the arity of the addition operation is 2" or "addition is an operation of arity 2" one usually says "addition is a binary operation". In general, the naming of functions or operators with a given arity follows a convention similar to the one used for ''n''-based numeral systems such as binary and hexadecimal. One combines a Latin prefix with the -ary ending; for example: * A nullary function takes no arguments. ** Example: f()=2 * A unary function takes one argument. ** Example: f(x)=2x * A binary function takes two arguments. ** Examp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prefix Code
A prefix code is a type of code system distinguished by its possession of the "prefix property", which requires that there is no whole code word in the system that is a prefix (initial segment) of any other code word in the system. It is trivially true for fixed-length code, so only a point of consideration in variable-length code. For example, a code with code words has the prefix property; a code consisting of does not, because "5" is a prefix of "59" and also of "55". A prefix code is a uniquely decodable code: given a complete and accurate sequence, a receiver can identify each word without requiring a special marker between words. However, there are uniquely decodable codes that are not prefix codes; for instance, the reverse of a prefix code is still uniquely decodable (it is a suffix code), but it is not necessarily a prefix code. Prefix codes are also known as prefix-free codes, prefix condition codes and instantaneous codes. Although Huffman coding is just one of many alg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transition System
In theoretical computer science, a transition system is a concept used in the study of computation. It is used to describe the potential behavior of discrete systems. It consists of states and transitions between states, which may be labeled with labels chosen from a set; the same label may appear on more than one transition. If the label set is a singleton, the system is essentially unlabeled, and a simpler definition that omits the labels is possible. Transition systems coincide mathematically with abstract rewriting systems (as explained further in this article) and directed graphs. They differ from finite-state automata in several ways: * The set of states is not necessarily finite, or even countable. * The set of transitions is not necessarily finite, or even countable. * No "start" state or "final" states are given. Transition systems can be represented as directed graphs. Formal definition Formally, a transition system is a pair (S, \rightarrow) where S is a set of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First-order Logic
First-order logic—also known as predicate logic, quantificational logic, and first-order predicate calculus—is a collection of formal systems used in mathematics, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science. First-order logic uses quantified variables over non-logical objects, and allows the use of sentences that contain variables, so that rather than propositions such as "Socrates is a man", one can have expressions in the form "there exists x such that x is Socrates and x is a man", where "there exists''"'' is a quantifier, while ''x'' is a variable. This distinguishes it from propositional logic, which does not use quantifiers or relations; in this sense, propositional logic is the foundation of first-order logic. A theory about a topic is usually a first-order logic together with a specified domain of discourse (over which the quantified variables range), finitely many functions from that domain to itself, finitely many predicates defined on that domain, and a set of ax ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First-order Arithmetic
In first-order logic, a first-order theory is given by a set of axioms in some language. This entry lists some of the more common examples used in model theory and some of their properties. Preliminaries For every natural mathematical structure there is a signature σ listing the constants, functions, and relations of the theory together with their arities, so that the object is naturally a σ-structure. Given a signature σ there is a unique first-order language ''L''σ that can be used to capture the first-order expressible facts about the σ-structure. There are two common ways to specify theories: #List or describe a set of sentences in the language ''L''σ, called the axioms of the theory. #Give a set of σ-structures, and define a theory to be the set of sentences in ''L''σ holding in all these models. For example, the "theory of finite fields" consists of all sentences in the language of fields that are true in all finite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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