31,119 research outputs found
Uniform test of algorithmic randomness over a general space
The algorithmic theory of randomness is well developed when the underlying
space is the set of finite or infinite sequences and the underlying probability
distribution is the uniform distribution or a computable distribution. These
restrictions seem artificial. Some progress has been made to extend the theory
to arbitrary Bernoulli distributions (by Martin-Loef), and to arbitrary
distributions (by Levin). We recall the main ideas and problems of Levin's
theory, and report further progress in the same framework.
- We allow non-compact spaces (like the space of continuous functions,
underlying the Brownian motion).
- The uniform test (deficiency of randomness) d_P(x) (depending both on the
outcome x and the measure P should be defined in a general and natural way.
- We see which of the old results survive: existence of universal tests,
conservation of randomness, expression of tests in terms of description
complexity, existence of a universal measure, expression of mutual information
as "deficiency of independence.
- The negative of the new randomness test is shown to be a generalization of
complexity in continuous spaces; we show that the addition theorem survives.
The paper's main contribution is introducing an appropriate framework for
studying these questions and related ones (like statistics for a general family
of distributions).Comment: 40 pages. Journal reference and a slight correction in the proof of
Theorem 7 adde
Computability of probability measures and Martin-Lof randomness over metric spaces
In this paper we investigate algorithmic randomness on more general spaces
than the Cantor space, namely computable metric spaces. To do this, we first
develop a unified framework allowing computations with probability measures. We
show that any computable metric space with a computable probability measure is
isomorphic to the Cantor space in a computable and measure-theoretic sense. We
show that any computable metric space admits a universal uniform randomness
test (without further assumption).Comment: 29 page
A Manifestly Gauge-Invariant Approach to Quantum Theories of Gauge Fields
In gauge theories, physical histories are represented by space-time
connections modulo gauge transformations. The space of histories is thus
intrinsically non-linear. The standard framework of constructive quantum field
theory has to be extended to face these {\it kinematical} non-linearities
squarely. We first present a pedagogical account of this problem and then
suggest an avenue for its resolution.Comment: 27 pages, CGPG-94/8-2, latex, contribution to the Cambridge meeting
proceeding
Bohrification of operator algebras and quantum logic
Following Birkhoff and von Neumann, quantum logic has traditionally been
based on the lattice of closed linear subspaces of some Hilbert space, or, more
generally, on the lattice of projections in a von Neumann algebra A.
Unfortunately, the logical interpretation of these lattices is impaired by
their nondistributivity and by various other problems. We show that a possible
resolution of these difficulties, suggested by the ideas of Bohr, emerges if
instead of single projections one considers elementary propositions to be
families of projections indexed by a partially ordered set C(A) of appropriate
commutative subalgebras of A. In fact, to achieve both maximal generality and
ease of use within topos theory, we assume that A is a so-called Rickart
C*-algebra and that C(A) consists of all unital commutative Rickart
C*-subalgebras of A. Such families of projections form a Heyting algebra in a
natural way, so that the associated propositional logic is intuitionistic:
distributivity is recovered at the expense of the law of the excluded middle.
Subsequently, generalizing an earlier computation for n-by-n matrices, we
prove that the Heyting algebra thus associated to A arises as a basis for the
internal Gelfand spectrum (in the sense of Banaschewski-Mulvey) of the
"Bohrification" of A, which is a commutative Rickart C*-algebra in the topos of
functors from C(A) to the category of sets. We explain the relationship of this
construction to partial Boolean algebras and Bruns-Lakser completions. Finally,
we establish a connection between probability measure on the lattice of
projections on a Hilbert space H and probability valuations on the internal
Gelfand spectrum of A for A = B(H).Comment: 31 page
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