|
Satisfiability Problems
In mathematical logic, a formula is ''satisfiable'' if it is true under some assignment of values to its variables. For example, the formula x+3=y is satisfiable because it is true when x=3 and y=6, while the formula x+1=x is not satisfiable over the integers. The dual concept to satisfiability is validity; a formula is ''valid'' if every assignment of values to its variables makes the formula true. For example, x+3=3+x is valid over the integers, but x+3=y is not. Formally, satisfiability is studied with respect to a fixed logic defining the syntax of allowed symbols, such as first-order logic, second-order logic or propositional logic. Rather than being syntactic, however, satisfiability is a semantic property because it relates to the ''meaning'' of the symbols, for example, the meaning of + in a formula such as x+1=x. Formally, we define an interpretation (or model) to be an assignment of values to the variables and an assignment of meaning to all other non-logical symbol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematical Logic
Mathematical logic is the study of formal logic within mathematics. Major subareas include model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion theory. Research in mathematical logic commonly addresses the mathematical properties of formal systems of logic such as their expressive or deductive power. However, it can also include uses of logic to characterize correct mathematical reasoning or to establish foundations of mathematics. Since its inception, mathematical logic has both contributed to and been motivated by the study of foundations of mathematics. This study began in the late 19th century with the development of axiomatic frameworks for geometry, arithmetic, and analysis. In the early 20th century it was shaped by David Hilbert's program to prove the consistency of foundational theories. Results of Kurt Gödel, Gerhard Gentzen, and others provided partial resolution to the program, and clarified the issues involved in proving consistency. Work in set theory s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of philosophy within the Lyceum (classical), Lyceum and the wider Aristotelianism, Aristotelian tradition. His writings cover many subjects including Physics (Aristotle), physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, Poetics (Aristotle), poetry, theatre, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics, politics, meteorology, History of geology, geology, and government. Aristotle provided a complex synthesis of the various philosophies existing prior to him. It was above all from his teachings that Western culture, the West inherited its intellectual lexicon, as well as problems and methods of inquiry. As a result, his philosophy has exerted a unique influence on almost every form of knowledge in the West a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variable-free
In mathematical logic, a ground term of a formal system is a term that does not contain any variables. Similarly, a ground formula is a formula that does not contain any variables. In first-order logic with identity, the sentence Q(a) \lor P(b) is a ground formula, with a and b being constant symbols. A ground expression is a ground term or ground formula. Examples Consider the following expressions in first order logic over a signature containing the constant symbols 0 and 1 for the numbers 0 and 1, respectively, a unary function symbol s for the successor function and a binary function symbol + for addition. * s(0), s(s(0)), s(s(s(0))), \ldots are ground terms; * 0 + 1, \; 0 + 1 + 1, \ldots are ground terms; * 0+s(0), \; s(0)+ s(0), \; s(0)+s(s(0))+0 are ground terms; * x + s(1) and s(x) are terms, but not ground terms; * s(0) = 1 and 0 + 0 = 0 are ground formulae. Formal definitions What follows is a formal definition for first-order languages. Let a first-order language b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theory (logic)
In mathematical logic, a theory (also called a formal theory) is a set of sentences in a formal language. In most scenarios, a deductive system is first understood from context, after which an element \phi\in T of a deductively closed theory T is then called a theorem of the theory. In many deductive systems there is usually a subset \Sigma \subseteq T that is called "the set of axioms" of the theory T, in which case the deductive system is also called an "axiomatic system". By definition, every axiom is automatically a theorem. A first-order theory is a set of first-order sentences (theorems) recursively obtained by the inference rules of the system applied to the set of axioms. General theories (as expressed in formal language) When defining theories for foundational purposes, additional care must be taken, as normal set-theoretic language may not be appropriate. The construction of a theory begins by specifying a definite non-empty ''conceptual class'' \mathcal, the eleme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unification (computer Science)
In logic and computer science, unification is an algorithmic process of solving equations between symbolic expressions. Depending on which expressions (also called ''terms'') are allowed to occur in an equation set (also called ''unification problem''), and which expressions are considered equal, several frameworks of unification are distinguished. If higher-order variables, that is, variables representing functions, are allowed in an expression, the process is called higher-order unification, otherwise first-order unification. If a solution is required to make both sides of each equation literally equal, the process is called syntactic or free unification, otherwise semantic or equational unification, or E-unification, or unification modulo theory. A ''solution'' of a unification problem is denoted as a substitution, that is, a mapping assigning a symbolic value to each variable of the problem's expressions. A unification algorithm should compute for a given problem a ''complete' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congruence Closure
In mathematics, a subset of a given set is closed under an operation of the larger set if performing that operation on members of the subset always produces a member of that subset. For example, the natural numbers are closed under addition, but not under subtraction: is not a natural number, although both 1 and 2 are. Similarly, a subset is said to be closed under a ''collection'' of operations if it is closed under each of the operations individually. The closure of a subset is the result of a closure operator applied to the subset. The ''closure'' of a subset under some operations is the smallest subset that is closed under these operations. It is often called the ''span'' (for example linear span) or the ''generated set''. Definitions Let be a set equipped with one or several methods for producing elements of from other elements of . Operations and (partial) multivariate function are examples of such methods. If is a topological space, the limit of a sequence of elements ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Term Rewriting
In mathematics, computer science, and logic, rewriting covers a wide range of methods of replacing subterms of a formula with other terms. Such methods may be achieved by rewriting systems (also known as rewrite systems, rewrite engines, or reduction systems). In their most basic form, they consist of a set of objects, plus relations on how to transform those objects. Rewriting can be non-deterministic. One rule to rewrite a term could be applied in many different ways to that term, or more than one rule could be applicable. Rewriting systems then do not provide an algorithm for changing one term to another, but a set of possible rule applications. When combined with an appropriate algorithm, however, rewrite systems can be viewed as computer programs, and several theorem provers and declarative programming languages are based on term rewriting. Example cases Logic In logic, the procedure for obtaining the conjunctive normal form (CNF) of a formula can be implemented as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Automated Theorem Proving
Automated theorem proving (also known as ATP or automated deduction) is a subfield of automated reasoning and mathematical logic dealing with proving mathematical theorems by computer programs. Automated reasoning over mathematical proof was a major impetus for the development of computer science. Logical foundations While the roots of formalised logic go back to Aristotle, the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries saw the development of modern logic and formalised mathematics. Frege's '' Begriffsschrift'' (1879) introduced both a complete propositional calculus and what is essentially modern predicate logic. His ''Foundations of Arithmetic'', published 1884, expressed (parts of) mathematics in formal logic. This approach was continued by Russell and Whitehead in their influential '' Principia Mathematica'', first published 1910–1913, and with a revised second edition in 1927. Russell and Whitehead thought they could derive all mathematical truth using axioms an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equational Theory
Universal algebra (sometimes called general algebra) is the field of mathematics that studies algebraic structures themselves, not examples ("models") of algebraic structures. For instance, rather than take particular groups as the object of study, in universal algebra one takes the class of groups as an object of study. Basic idea In universal algebra, an algebra (or algebraic structure) is a set ''A'' together with a collection of operations on ''A''. An ''n''-ary operation on ''A'' is a function that takes ''n'' elements of ''A'' and returns a single element of ''A''. Thus, a 0-ary operation (or ''nullary operation'') can be represented simply as an element of ''A'', or a '' constant'', often denoted by a letter like ''a''. A 1-ary operation (or ''unary operation'') is simply a function from ''A'' to ''A'', often denoted by a symbol placed in front of its argument, like ~''x''. A 2-ary operation (or ''binary operation'') is often denoted by a symbol placed between its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Algebra
Universal algebra (sometimes called general algebra) is the field of mathematics that studies algebraic structures themselves, not examples ("models") of algebraic structures. For instance, rather than take particular Group (mathematics), groups as the object of study, in universal algebra one takes the class of groups as an object of study. Basic idea In universal algebra, an algebra (or algebraic Structure (mathematical logic), structure) is a set (mathematics), set ''A'' together with a collection of operations on ''A''. An ''n''-arity, ary operation (mathematics), operation on ''A'' is a function (mathematics), function that takes ''n'' elements of ''A'' and returns a single element of ''A''. Thus, a 0-ary operation (or ''nullary operation'') can be represented simply as an element of ''A'', or a ''Constant (mathematics), constant'', often denoted by a letter like ''a''. A 1-ary operation (or ''unary operation'') is simply a function from ''A'' to ''A'', often denoted by a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boolean Satisfiability Problem
In logic and computer science, the Boolean satisfiability problem (sometimes called propositional satisfiability problem and abbreviated SATISFIABILITY, SAT or B-SAT) is the problem of determining if there exists an interpretation that satisfies a given Boolean formula. In other words, it asks whether the variables of a given Boolean formula can be consistently replaced by the values TRUE or FALSE in such a way that the formula evaluates to TRUE. If this is the case, the formula is called ''satisfiable''. On the other hand, if no such assignment exists, the function expressed by the formula is FALSE for all possible variable assignments and the formula is ''unsatisfiable''. For example, the formula "''a'' AND NOT ''b''" is satisfiable because one can find the values ''a'' = TRUE and ''b'' = FALSE, which make (''a'' AND NOT ''b'') = TRUE. In contrast, "''a'' AND NOT ''a''" is unsatisfiable. SAT is the first problem that was proved to be NP-complete; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decidable Problem
In computability theory and computational complexity theory, a decision problem is a computational problem that can be posed as a yes–no question of the input values. An example of a decision problem is deciding by means of an algorithm whether a given natural number is prime. Another is the problem "given two numbers ''x'' and ''y'', does ''x'' evenly divide ''y''?". The answer is either 'yes' or 'no' depending upon the values of ''x'' and ''y''. A method for solving a decision problem, given in the form of an algorithm, is called a decision procedure for that problem. A decision procedure for the decision problem "given two numbers ''x'' and ''y'', does ''x'' evenly divide ''y''?" would give the steps for determining whether ''x'' evenly divides ''y''. One such algorithm is long division. If the remainder is zero the answer is 'yes', otherwise it is 'no'. A decision problem which can be solved by an algorithm is called ''decidable''. Decision problems typically appear in ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
