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Mortality (computability Theory)
In computability theory, the mortality problem is a decision problem related to the halting problem. For Turing machines, the halting problem can be stated as follows: ''Given a Turing machine A Turing machine is a mathematical model of computation describing an abstract machine that manipulates symbols on a strip of tape according to a table of rules. Despite the model's simplicity, it is capable of implementing any computer algori ..., and an input, decide whether the machine halts when run on the given input.'' In contrast, the mortality problem for Turing machines asks whether ''all'' executions of the machine, starting from ''any configuration'', halt. In the statement above, a ''configuration'' specifies both the machine's state (not necessarily its initial state), its tape position and the contents of the tape. While we usually assume that in the starting configuration all but finitely many cells on the tape are blanks, in the mortality problem the tape can have arb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computability 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 definable set, 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 (mathematics), 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 computational complexity theory ... [...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] |
Halting Problem
In computability theory (computer science), computability theory, the halting problem is the problem of determining, from a description of an arbitrary computer program and an input, whether the program will finish running, or continue to run forever. The halting problem is ''Undecidable problem, undecidable'', meaning that no general algorithm exists that solves the halting problem for all possible program–input pairs. The problem comes up often in discussions of computability since it demonstrates that some functions are mathematically Definable set, definable but not Computable function, computable. A key part of the formal statement of the problem is a mathematical definition of a computer and program, usually via a Turing machine. The proof then shows, for any program that might determine whether programs halt, that a "pathological" program exists for which makes an incorrect determination. Specifically, is the program that, when called with some input, passes its own s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turing Machine
A Turing machine is a mathematical model of computation describing an abstract machine that manipulates symbols on a strip of tape according to a table of rules. Despite the model's simplicity, it is capable of implementing any computer algorithm. The machine operates on an infinite memory tape divided into discrete mathematics, discrete cells, each of which can hold a single symbol drawn from a finite set of symbols called the Alphabet (formal languages), alphabet of the machine. It has a "head" that, at any point in the machine's operation, is positioned over one of these cells, and a "state" selected from a finite set of states. At each step of its operation, the head reads the symbol in its cell. Then, based on the symbol and the machine's own present state, the machine writes a symbol into the same cell, and moves the head one step to the left or the right, or halts the computation. The choice of which replacement symbol to write, which direction to move the head, and whet ... [...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] |
Arithmetical Hierarchy
In mathematical logic, the arithmetical hierarchy, arithmetic hierarchy or Kleene–Mostowski hierarchy (after mathematicians Stephen Cole Kleene and Andrzej Mostowski) classifies certain sets based on the complexity of formulas that define them. Any set that receives a classification is called arithmetical. The arithmetical hierarchy was invented independently by Kleene (1943) and Mostowski (1946).P. G. Hinman, ''Recursion-Theoretic Hierarchies'' (p.89), Perspectives in Logic, 1978. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, ISBN 3-540-07904-1. The arithmetical hierarchy is important in computability theory, effective descriptive set theory, and the study of formal theories such as Peano arithmetic. The Tarski–Kuratowski algorithm provides an easy way to get an upper bound on the classifications assigned to a formula and the set it defines. The hyperarithmetical hierarchy and the analytical hierarchy extend the arithmetical hierarchy to classify additional formulas and set ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semi-Thue System
In theoretical computer science and mathematical logic a string rewriting system (SRS), historically called a semi-Thue system, is a rewriting system over strings from a (usually finite) alphabet. Given a binary relation R between fixed strings over the alphabet, called rewrite rules, denoted by s\rightarrow t, an SRS extends the rewriting relation to all strings in which the left- and right-hand side of the rules appear as substrings, that is usv\rightarrow utv, where s, t, u, and v are strings. The notion of a semi-Thue system essentially coincides with the presentation of a monoid. Thus they constitute a natural framework for solving the word problem for monoids and groups. An SRS can be defined directly as an abstract rewriting system. It can also be seen as a restricted kind of a term rewriting system, in which all function symbols have an arity of at most 1. As a formalism, string rewriting systems are Turing complete. The semi-Thue name comes from the Norwegian mat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Markov Algorithm
In theoretical computer science, a Markov algorithm is a string rewriting system that uses grammar-like rules to operate on strings of symbols. Markov algorithms have been shown to be Turing-complete, which means that they are suitable as a general model of computation and can represent any mathematical expression from its simple notation. Markov algorithms are named after the Soviet mathematician Andrey Markov, Jr. Refal is a programming language based on Markov algorithms. Description Normal algorithms are verbal, that is, intended to be applied to strings in different alphabets. The definition of any normal algorithm consists of two parts: an ''alphabet'', which is a set of symbols, and a ''scheme''. The algorithm is applied to strings of symbols of the alphabet. The scheme is a finite ordered set of ''substitution formulas''. Each formula can be either ''simple'' or ''final''. Simple substitution formulas are represented by strings of the form L\to D, where L and D are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Counter Machine
A counter machine or counter automaton is an abstract machine used in a formal logic and theoretical computer science to model computation. It is the most primitive of the four types of register machines. A counter machine comprises a set of one or more unbounded ''registers'', each of which can hold a single non-negative integer, and a list of (usually sequential) arithmetic and control instructions for the machine to follow. The counter machine is typically used in the process of designing parallel algorithms in relation to the mutual exclusion principle. When used in this manner, the counter machine is used to model the discrete time-steps of a computational system in relation to memory accesses. By modeling computations in relation to the memory accesses for each respective computational step, parallel algorithms may be designed in such a matter to avoid interlocking, the simultaneous writing operation by two (or more) threads to the same memory address. Counter machines wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dynamical System
In mathematics, a dynamical system is a system in which a Function (mathematics), function describes the time dependence of a Point (geometry), point in an ambient space, such as in a parametric curve. Examples include the mathematical models that describe the swinging of a clock pendulum, fluid dynamics, the flow of water in a pipe, the Brownian motion, random motion of particles in the air, and population dynamics, the number of fish each springtime in a lake. The most general definition unifies several concepts in mathematics such as ordinary differential equations and ergodic theory by allowing different choices of the space and how time is measured. Time can be measured by integers, by real number, real or complex numbers or can be a more general algebraic object, losing the memory of its physical origin, and the space may be a manifold or simply a Set (mathematics), set, without the need of a Differentiability, smooth space-time structure defined on it. At any given time, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theory Of Computation
In theoretical computer science and mathematics, the theory of computation is the branch that deals with what problems can be solved on a model of computation, using an algorithm, how efficiently they can be solved or to what degree (e.g., approximate solutions versus precise ones). The field is divided into three major branches: automata theory and formal languages, computability theory, and computational complexity theory, which are linked by the question: ''"What are the fundamental capabilities and limitations of computers?".'' In order to perform a rigorous study of computation, computer scientists work with a mathematical abstraction of computers called a model of computation. There are several models in use, but the most commonly examined is the Turing machine. Computer scientists study the Turing machine because it is simple to formulate, can be analyzed and used to prove results, and because it represents what many consider the most powerful possible "reasonable" m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
