Computable Partial Functions Research Articles

Semigroups and one-way functions

We study the complexity classes 𝖯 and 𝖭𝖯 through a semigroup 𝖿𝖯 ("polynomial-time functions"), consisting of all polynomially balanced polynomial-time computable partial functions. The semigroup 𝖿𝖯 is non-regular if and only if 𝖯 ≠ 𝖭𝖯. The one-way functions considered here are based on worst-case complexity (they are not cryptographic); they are exactly the non-regular elements of 𝖿𝖯. We prove various properties of 𝖿𝖯, e.g. that it is finitely generated. We define reductions with respect to which certain universal one-way functions are 𝖿𝖯-complete.

When series of computable functions with varying domains are computable

In this paper we study the behavior of computable series of computable partial functions with varying domains (but each domain containing all computable points), and prove that the sum of the series exists and is computable exactly on the intersection of the domains when a certain computable Cauchyness criterion is met. In our point-free approach, we name points via nested sequences of basic open sets, and thus our functions from a topological space into the reals are generated by functions from basic open sets to basic open sets. The construction of a function that produces the sum of a series requires working with an infinite array of pairs of basic open sets, and reconciling the varying domains. We introduce a general technique for using such an array to produce a set function that generates a well-defined point function and apply the technique to a series to establish our main result. Finally, we use the main finding to construct a computable, and thus continuous, function whose domain is of Lebesgue measure zero and which is nonextendible to a continuous function whose domain properly includes the original domain. (We had established existence of such functions with domains of measure less than ε for any , in an earlier paper.)

Computability and continuity in metric partial algebras equipped with computability structures

AbstractIn this paper we give an axiomatisation of the concept of a computability structure with partial sequences on a many‐sorted metric partial algebra, thus extending the axiomatisation given by Pour‐El and Richards in [9] for Banach spaces. We show that every Banach‐Mazur computable partial function from an effectively separable computable metric partial Σ‐algebra A to a computable metric partial Σ‐algebra B must be continuous, and conversely, that every effectively continuous partial function with semidecidable domain and which preserves the computability of a computably enumerable dense set must be computable. Finally, as an application of these results we give an alternative proof of the first main theorem for Banach spaces first proved by Pour‐El and Richards. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Church's thesis without tears

The modern theory of computability is based on the works of Church, Markov and Turing who, starting from quite different models of computation, arrived at the same class of computable functions. The purpose of this paper is the show how the main results of the Church-Markov-Turing theory of computable functions may quickly be derived and understood without recourse to the largely irrelevant theories of recursive functions, Markov algorithms, or Turing machines. We do this by ignoring the problem of what constitutes a computable function and concentrating on the central feature of the Church-Markov-Turing theory: that the set of computable partial functions can be effectively enumerated. In this manner we are led directly to the heart of the theory of computability without having to fuss about what a computable function is.The spirit of this approach is similar to that of [RGRS]. A major difference is that we operate in the context of constructive mathematics in the sense of Bishop [BSH1], so all functions are computable by definition, and the phrase “you can find” implies “by a finite calculation.” In particular ifPis some property, then the statement “for eachmthere isnsuch thatP(m, n)” means that we can construct a (computable) functionθsuch thatP(m, θ(m))for allm. Church's thesis has a different flavor in an environment like this where the notion of a computable function is primitive.One point of such a treatment of Church's thesis is to make available to Bishopstyle constructivists the Markovian counterexamples of Russian constructivism and recursive function theory. The lack of serious candidates for computable functions other than recursive functions makes it quite implausible that a Bishopstyle constructivist could refute Church's thesis, or any consequence of Church's thesis. Hence counterexamples such as Specker's bounded increasing sequence of rational numbers that is eventually bounded away from any given real number [SPEC] may be used, as Brouwerian counterexamples are, as evidence of the unprovability of certain assertions.

An Overview of the Theory of Computational Complexity

The purpose of this paper is to outline the theory of computational complexity which has emerged as a comprehensive theory during the last decade. This theory is concerned with the quantitative aspects of computations and its central theme is the measuring of the difficulty of computing functions. The paper concentrates on the study of computational com- plexity measures defined for all computable functions and makes no attempt to survey the whole field exhaustively nor to present the material in historical order. Rather it presents the basic concepts, results, and techniques of computational complexity from a new point of view from which the ideas are more easily understood and fit together as a coherent whole. It is clear that a viable theory of computation must deal realistically with the quantitative aspects of computing and must develop a general theory which studies the properties of possible measures of the difficulty of computing functions. Such a theory must go beyond the classification of functions as computable and non- computable, or elementary and primitive reeursive, etc. It must concern itself with computational complexity measures which are defined for all possible computations and which assign a complexity to each computation which terminates. Furthermore, this theory must eventually reflect some aspects of real computing to justify its existence by contributing to the general development of computer science. During the last decade, considerable progress has been made in the development of such a theory dealing with the complexity of computations. It is our conviction that by now this theory is an essential part of the theory of computation, and that in the future it will be an important theory which will permeate much of the theoretical work in computer science. Our purpose in this paper is to outline the recently developed theory of computa- tional complexity by presenting its central concepts, results, and techniques. The paper is primarily concerned with the study of computational complexity measures defined for all computable partial functions and no attempt is made to survey the whole field exhaustively nor to present the material in historical order. Rather, we