On the concept of (homo)morphism : a key notion in the learning of abstract algebra

This article is dedicated to the investigation of difficulties involved in the understanding of the homomorphism concept. It doesn't restrict to group-theory but on the contrary raises the issue of developing teaching strategies aiming at gaining access to structuralist thinking. Emphasis is put on epistemological analysis and its interaction with didactics in an attempt to make Abstract Algebra more accessible

Computer theorem proving in math

We give an overview of issues surrounding computer-verified theorem proving in the standard pure-mathematical context. This is based on my talk at the PQR conference (Brussels, June 2003)

Elimination of quotients in various localisations of premodels into models

The contribution of this article is quadruple. It (1) unifies various schemes of premodels/models including situations such as presheaves/sheaves, sheaves/flabby sheaves, prespectra/$\Omega$-spectra, simplicial topological spaces/(complete) Segal spaces, pre-localised rings/localised rings, functors in categories/strong stacks and, to some extent, functors from a limit sketch to a model category versus the homotopical models for the limit sketch; (2) provides a general construction from the premodels to the models; (3) proposes technics that allows one to assess the nature of the universal properties associated with this construction; (4) shows that the obtained localisation admits a particular presentation, which organises the structural and relational information into bundles of data. This presentation is obtained via a process called an elimination of quotients and its aim is to facilitate the handling of the relational information appearing in the construction of higher dimensional objects such as weak $(\omega,n)$-categories, weak $\omega$-groupoids and higher moduli stacks.Comment: The text is the same as in v6; this version contains corrections to the published MDPI paper, the main reason for this change is that the diagram of Proposition 3.1 was meant to be a 3 dimensional diagram (while only the front face appeared in the published paper). The wording of some sentences and the diagram of Example 6.42 are changed accordingly. A typo in the table of Ex. 6.42 is correcte

From Simple to Complex and Ultra-complex Systems:\ud A Paradigm Shift Towards Non-Abelian Systems Dynamics

Atoms, molecules, organisms distinguish layers of reality because of the causal links that govern their behavior, both horizontally (atom-atom, molecule-molecule, organism-organism) and vertically (atom-molecule-organism). This is the first intuition of the theory of levels. Even if the further development of the theory will require imposing a number of qualifications to this initial intuition, the idea of a series of entities organized on different levels of complexity will prove correct. Living systems as well as social systems and the human mind present features remarkably different from those characterizing non-living, simple physical and chemical systems. We propose that super-complexity requires at least four different categorical frameworks, provided by the theories of levels of reality, chronotopoids, (generalized) interactions, and anticipation

From Simple to Complex and Ultra-complex Systems:\ud A Paradigm Shift Towards Non-Abelian Systems Dynamics

Atoms, molecules, organisms distinguish layers of reality because of the causal links that govern their behavior, both horizontally (atom-atom, molecule-molecule, organism-organism) and vertically (atom-molecule-organism). This is the first intuition of the theory of levels. Even if the further development of the theory will require imposing a number of qualifications to this initial intuition, the idea of a series of entities organized on different levels of complexity will prove correct. Living systems as well as social systems and the human mind present features remarkably different from those characterizing non-living, simple physical and chemical systems. We propose that super-complexity requires at least four different categorical frameworks, provided by the theories of levels of reality, chronotopoids, (generalized) interactions, and anticipation

The extension problem for partial Boolean structures in Quantum Mechanics

Alternative partial Boolean structures, implicit in the discussion of classical representability of sets of quantum mechanical predictions, are characterized, with definite general conclusions on the equivalence of the approaches going back to Bell and Kochen-Specker. An algebraic approach is presented, allowing for a discussion of partial classical extension, amounting to reduction of the number of contexts, classical representability arising as a special case. As a result, known techniques are generalized and some of the associated computational difficulties overcome. The implications on the discussion of Boole-Bell inequalities are indicated.Comment: A number of misprints have been corrected and some terminology changed in order to avoid possible ambiguitie

The prospects for mathematical logic in the twenty-first century

The four authors present their speculations about the future developments of mathematical logic in the twenty-first century. The areas of recursion theory, proof theory and logic for computer science, model theory, and set theory are discussed independently.Comment: Association for Symbolic Logi