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Counting Quantification
A counting quantifier is a mathematical term for a quantifier of the form "there exists at least ''k'' elements that satisfy property ''X''". In first-order logic with equality, counting quantifiers can be defined in terms of ordinary quantifiers, so in this context they are a notational shorthand. However, they are interesting in the context of logics such as two-variable logic with counting that restrict the number of variables in formulas. Also, generalized counting quantifiers that say "there exists infinitely many" are not expressible using a finite number of formulas in first-order logic. Definition in terms of ordinary quantifiers Counting quantifiers can be defined recursively in terms of ordinary quantifiers. Let \exists^ denote "there exist exactly k". Then :\begin \exists^ x F(x) &\leftrightarrow \neg \exists x F(x) \\ \exists^ x F(x) &\leftrightarrow \exists x (F(x) \land \exists^ y (y \neq x \land F(y))) \end Let \exists^ denote "there exist at least k". Then :\beg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantifier (logic)
In logic, a quantifier is an operator that specifies how many individuals in the domain of discourse satisfy an open formula. For instance, the universal quantifier \forall in the first order formula \forall x P(x) expresses that everything in the domain satisfies the property denoted by P. On the other hand, the existential quantifier \exists in the formula \exists x P(x) expresses that there exists something in the domain which satisfies that property. A formula where a quantifier takes widest scope is called a quantified formula. A quantified formula must contain a bound variable and a subformula specifying a property of the referent of that variable. The mostly commonly used quantifiers are \forall and \exists. These quantifiers are standardly defined as duals; in classical logic, they are interdefinable using negation. They can also be used to define more complex quantifiers, as in the formula \neg \exists x P(x) which expresses that nothing has the property P. ... [...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] |
Two-variable Logic With Counting
In mathematical logic and computer science, two-variable logic is the fragment of first-order logic where formulae can be written using only two different variables. This fragment is usually studied without function symbols. Decidability Some important problems about two-variable logic, such as satisfiability and finite satisfiability, are decidable. This result generalizes results about the decidability of fragments of two-variable logic, such as certain description logics; however, some fragments of two-variable logic enjoy a much lower computational complexity for their satisfiability problems. By contrast, for the three-variable fragment of first-order logic without function symbols, satisfiability is undecidable. Counting quantifiers The two-variable fragment of first-order logic with no function symbols is known to be decidable even with the addition of counting quantifiers, and thus of uniqueness quantification In mathematics and logic, the term "uniqueness" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recursive Definition
In mathematics and computer science, a recursive definition, or inductive definition, is used to define the elements in a set in terms of other elements in the set ( Aczel 1977:740ff). Some examples of recursively-definable objects include factorials, natural numbers, Fibonacci numbers, and the Cantor ternary set. A recursive definition of a function defines values of the function for some inputs in terms of the values of the same function for other (usually smaller) inputs. For example, the factorial function ''n''! is defined by the rules :0! = 1. :(''n'' + 1)! = (''n'' + 1)·''n''!. This definition is valid for each natural number ''n'', because the recursion eventually reaches the base case of 0. The definition may also be thought of as giving a procedure for computing the value of the function ''n''!, starting from ''n'' = 0 and proceeding onwards with ''n'' = 1, ''n'' = 2, ''n'' = 3 etc. The recursion theorem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uniqueness Quantification
In mathematics and logic, the term "uniqueness" refers to the property of being the one and only object satisfying a certain condition. This sort of quantification is known as uniqueness quantification or unique existential quantification, and is often denoted with the symbols " ∃!" or "∃=1". For example, the formal statement : \exists! n \in \mathbb\,(n - 2 = 4) may be read as "there is exactly one natural number n such that n - 2 =4". Proving uniqueness The most common technique to prove the unique existence of a certain object is to first prove the existence of the entity with the desired condition, and then to prove that any two such entities (say, ''a'' and ''b'') must be equal to each other (i.e. a = b). For example, to show that the equation x + 2 = 5 has exactly one solution, one would first start by establishing that at least one solution exists, namely 3; the proof of this part is simply the verification that the equation below holds: : 3 + 2 = 5. To ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lindström Quantifier
In mathematical logic, a Lindström quantifier is a generalized polyadic quantifier. Lindström quantifiers generalize first-order quantifiers, such as the existential quantifier, the universal quantifier, and the counting quantifiers. They were introduced by Per Lindström in 1966. They were later studied for their applications in logic in computer science and database query languages. Generalization of first-order quantifiers In order to facilitate discussion, some notational conventions need explaining. The expression : \phi^=\ for ''A'' an ''L''-structure (or ''L''-model) in a language ''L'', ''φ'' an ''L''-formula, and \bar a tuple of elements of the domain dom(''A'') of ''A''. In other words, \phi^ denotes a ( monadic) property defined on dom(A). In general, where ''x'' is replaced by an ''n''-tuple \bar of free variables, \phi^ denotes an ''n''-ary relation defined on dom(''A''). Each quantifier Q_A is relativized to a structure, since each quantifier is viewed a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
