Verifying whether One-Tape Non-Deterministic Turing Machines Run in Time Cn+DCn+D

We discuss the following family of problems, parameterized by integers $C\geq 2$ and $D\geq 1$: Does a given one-tape non-deterministic $q$-state Turing machine make at most $Cn+D$ steps on all computations on all inputs of length $n$, for all $n$? Assuming a fixed tape and input alphabet, we show that these problems are co-NP-complete and we provide good non-deterministic and co-non-deterministic lower bounds. Specifically, these problems can not be solved in $o(q^{(C-1)/4})$ non-deterministic time by multi-tape Turing machines. We also show that the complements of these problems can be solved in $O(q^{C+2})$ non-deterministic time and not in $o(q^{(C-1)/2})$ non-deterministic time by multi-tape Turing machines.Comment: 12 pages + 5 pages appendi

A Concrete View of Rule 110 Computation

Rule 110 is a cellular automaton that performs repeated simultaneous updates of an infinite row of binary values. The values are updated in the following way: 0s are changed to 1s at all positions where the value to the right is a 1, while 1s are changed to 0s at all positions where the values to the left and right are both 1. Though trivial to define, the behavior exhibited by Rule 110 is surprisingly intricate, and in (Cook, 2004) we showed that it is capable of emulating the activity of a Turing machine by encoding the Turing machine and its tape into a repeating left pattern, a central pattern, and a repeating right pattern, which Rule 110 then acts on. In this paper we provide an explicit compiler for converting a Turing machine into a Rule 110 initial state, and we present a general approach for proving that such constructions will work as intended. The simulation was originally assumed to require exponential time, but surprising results of Neary and Woods (2006) have shown that in fact, only polynomial time is required. We use the methods of Neary and Woods to exhibit a direct simulation of a Turing machine by a tag system in polynomial time

The reduction of tape reversals for off-line one-tape Turing machines

AbstractFor off-line one-tape Turing machines the number of tape reversals required for various computations may be uniformly reduced by an arbitrary constant factor

Length and Area Functions on Groups and Quasi-Isometric Higman Embeddings

We survey recent results about asymptotic functions of groups, obtained by the authors in collaboration with J.-C.Birget, V. Guba and E. Rips. We also discuss methods used in the proofs of these results.Comment: 33 page

Some Thoughts on Hypercomputation

Hypercomputation is a relatively new branch of computer science that emerged from the idea that the Church--Turing Thesis, which is supposed to describe what is computable and what is noncomputable, cannot possible be true. Because of its apparent validity, the Church--Turing Thesis has been used to investigate the possible limits of intelligence of any imaginable life form, and, consequently, the limits of information processing, since living beings are, among others, information processors. However, in the light of hypercomputation, which seems to be feasibly in our universe, one cannot impose arbitrary limits to what intelligence can achieve unless there are specific physical laws that prohibit the realization of something. In addition, hypercomputation allows us to ponder about aspects of communication between intelligent beings that have not been considered befor

Polynomially-bounded Dehn functions of groups

On the one hand, it is well known that the only subquadratic Dehn function of finitely presented groups is the linear one. On the other hand there is a huge class of Dehn functions $d(n)$ with growth at least $n^4$ (essentially all possible such Dehn functions) constructed in \cite{SBR} and based on the time functions of Turing machines and S-machines. The class of Dehn functions $n^{\alpha}$ with $\alpha\in (2; 4)$ remained more mysterious even though it has attracted quite a bit of attention (see, for example, \cite{BB}). We fill the gap obtaining Dehn functions of the form $n^{\alpha}$ (and much more) for all real $\alpha\ge 2$ computable in reasonable time, for example, $\alpha=\pi$ or $\alpha= e$, or $\alpha$ is any algebraic number. As in \cite{SBR}, we use S-machines but new tools and new way of proof are needed for the best possible lower bound $d(n)\ge n^2$.Comment: 98 pages, 18 figures, replaced figures, correction

Hypercomputability of quantum adiabatic processes: Fact versus Prejudices

We give an overview of a quantum adiabatic algorithm for Hilbert's tenth problem, including some discussions on its fundamental aspects and the emphasis on the probabilistic correctness of its findings. For the purpose of illustration, the numerical simulation results of some simple Diophantine equations are presented. We also discuss some prejudicial misunderstandings as well as some plausible difficulties faced by the algorithm in its physical implementation.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures. Invited paper for a special issue of the Journal of Applied Mathematics and Computatio

Finite Computational Structures and Implementations

What is computable with limited resources? How can we verify the correctness of computations? How to measure computational power with precision? Despite the immense scientific and engineering progress in computing, we still have only partial answers to these questions. In order to make these problems more precise, we describe an abstract algebraic definition of classical computation, generalizing traditional models to semigroups. The mathematical abstraction also allows the investigation of different computing paradigms (e.g. cellular automata, reversible computing) in the same framework. Here we summarize the main questions and recent results of the research of finite computation.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, will be presented at CANDAR'16 and final version published by IEEE Computer Societ

Periodicity in tilings

Tilings and tiling systems are an abstract concept that arise both as a computational model and as a dynamical system. In this paper, we characterize the sets of periods that a tiling system can produce. We prove that up to a slight recoding, they correspond exactly to languages in the complexity classes \nspace{n} and \cne