Two recursion theoretic characterizations of proof speed-ups

1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 522-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Royer

Smullyan in [Smu61] identified the recursion theoretic essence of incompleteness results such as Gödel's first incompleteness theorem and Rosser's theorem. Smullyan (improving upon [Kle50] and [Kle52]) showed that, for sufficiently complex theories, the collection of provable formulae and the collection of refutable formulae are effectively inseparable—where formulae and their Gödel numbers are identified. This paper gives a similar treatment for proof speed-up. We say that a formal system S1is speedable over another system S0on a set of formulaeAiff, for each recursive functionh, there is a formulaαinAsuch that the length of the shortest proof ofαin S0is larger thanhof the shortest proof ofαin S1. (Here we equate the length of a proof with something like the number of characters making it up,notits number of lines.) We characterize speedability in terms of the inseparability by r.e. sets of the collection of formulae which are provable in S1but unprovable in S0from the collectionA–where again formulae and their Gödel numbers are identified. We provide precise definitions of proof length, speedability and r.e. inseparability below.We follow the terminology and notation of [Rog87] with borrowings from [Soa87]. Below,ϕis an acceptable numbering of the partial recursive functions [Rog87] andΦa (Blum) complexity measure associated withϕ[Blu67], [DW83].

1958 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartley Rogers

In § 1 we present conceptual material concerning the notion of a Gödel numbering of the partial recursive functions. § 2 presents a theorem about these concepts. § 3 gives several applications. The material in § 1 and § 2 grew out of attempts by the author to find routine solutions to some of the problems discussed in § 3. The author wishes to acknowledge his debt in § 2 to the fruitful methods of Myhill in [M] and to thank the referee for an abbreviated and improved version of the proof for Lemma 3 in § 2.In the literature of mathematical logic, “Gödel numbering” usually means an effective correspondence between integers and the well-formed formulas of some logical calculus. In recursive function theory, certain such associations between the non-negative integers and instructions for computing partial recursive functions have been fundamental. In the present paper we shall be concerned only with numberings of the latter, more special, sort. By numbers and integers we shall mean non-negative integers. Our notation is, in general, that of [K]. If ϕ and ψ are two partial functions, ϕ = ψ shall mean that (∀x)[ϕ(x)≃(ψx)], i.e., that ϕ and ψ are defined for the same arguments and are equal on those arguments. We consider partial recursive functions of one variable; applications of the paper to the case of several variables, or to the case of all partial recursive functions in any number of variables, can be made in the usual way using the coordinate functions (a)i of [K, p. 230]. It will furthermore be observed that we consider only concepts that are invariant with respect to general recursive functions; more limited notions of Gödel numbering, taking into account, say, primitive recursive structure, are beyond the scope of the present paper.


1973 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 579-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Blum ◽  
I. Marques

An important goal of complexity theory, as we see it, is to characterize those partial recursive functions and recursively enumerable sets having some given complexity properties, and to do so in terms which do not involve the notion of complexity.As a contribution to this goal, we provide characterizations of the effectively speedable, speedable and levelable [2] sets in purely recursive theoretic terms. We introduce the notion of subcreativeness and show that every program for computing a partial recursive function f can be effectively speeded up on infinitely many integers if and only if the graph of f is subcreative.In addition, in order to cast some light on the concepts of effectively speedable, speedable and levelable sets we show that all maximal sets are levelable (and hence speedable) but not effectively speedable and we exhibit a set which is not levelable in a very strong sense but yet is effectively speedable.


1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Byerly

In [1] two interesting invariance notions were introduced: the notions of a set of godel numbers being invariant to automorphisms of the structures (ω, ·) and (ω, E) respectively. Here, · and E are defined by n · m ≃ φn (m) and nEm if and only if n Є Wm, where {φn} and {Wn} are acceptable enumerations of the partial recursive functions and r.e. sets respectively. In this paper we continue the study of the invariant sets, and especially the invariant r.e. sets, of gödel numbers.We start off with an easy result which characterizes the Turing degrees containing invariant sets. We then take a closer look at r.e. sets invariant with respect to automorphisms of (ω,E). Using the characterization [1, Theorem 4.2] of such sets, we will derive a somewhat different characterization (which was stated, but not proved, in [1, Proposition 4.4]) and, using it as a tool for constructing invariant sets, prove that the r.e. sets invariant with respect to automorphisms of (ω, E) cannot be effectively enumerated.We will next discuss representations of r.e. sets invariant with respect to automorphisms of (ω, ·). Although these sets do not have as nice a characterization as the r.e. sets invariant with respect to automorphisms of (ω, E) do, the techniques of [1] can still profitably be used to investigate their structure. In particular, if f is a partial recursive function whose graph is invariant with respect to automorphisms of (ω, ·), then for every a in the domain of f, there is a term t(a) built up from a and · only such that f(a) ≃ t(a). This is an analog to [1, Corollary 4.3]. We will also prove an analog to a result mentioned in the previous paragraph: the r.e. sets invariant with respect to automorphisms of (ω, ·) cannot be effectively enumerated.


Author(s):  
David J. Lobina

Recursion, or the capacity of ‘self-reference’, has played a central role within mathematical approaches to understanding the nature of computation, from the general recursive functions of Alonzo Church to the partial recursive functions of Stephen C. Kleene and the production systems of Emil Post. Recursion has also played a significant role in the analysis and running of certain computational processes within computer science (viz., those with self-calls and deferred operations). Yet the relationship between the mathematical and computer versions of recursion is subtle and intricate. A recursively specified algorithm, for example, may well proceed iteratively if time and space constraints permit; but the nature of specific data structures—viz., recursive data structures—will also return a recursive solution as the most optimal process. In other words, the correspondence between recursive structures and recursive processes is not automatic; it needs to be demonstrated on a case-by-case basis.


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