524 research outputs found
Mass problems and intuitionistic higher-order logic
In this paper we study a model of intuitionistic higher-order logic which we
call \emph{the Muchnik topos}. The Muchnik topos may be defined briefly as the
category of sheaves of sets over the topological space consisting of the Turing
degrees, where the Turing cones form a base for the topology. We note that our
Muchnik topos interpretation of intuitionistic mathematics is an extension of
the well known Kolmogorov/Muchnik interpretation of intuitionistic
propositional calculus via Muchnik degrees, i.e., mass problems under weak
reducibility. We introduce a new sheaf representation of the intuitionistic
real numbers, \emph{the Muchnik reals}, which are different from the Cauchy
reals and the Dedekind reals. Within the Muchnik topos we obtain a \emph{choice
principle} and a \emph{bounding principle} where range over Muchnik
reals, ranges over functions from Muchnik reals to Muchnik reals, and
is a formula not containing or . For the convenience of the
reader, we explain all of the essential background material on intuitionism,
sheaf theory, intuitionistic higher-order logic, Turing degrees, mass problems,
Muchnik degrees, and Kolmogorov's calculus of problems. We also provide an
English translation of Muchnik's 1963 paper on Muchnik degrees.Comment: 44 page
Towards a Universal Theory of Artificial Intelligence based on Algorithmic Probability and Sequential Decision Theory
Decision theory formally solves the problem of rational agents in uncertain
worlds if the true environmental probability distribution is known.
Solomonoff's theory of universal induction formally solves the problem of
sequence prediction for unknown distribution. We unify both theories and give
strong arguments that the resulting universal AIXI model behaves optimal in any
computable environment. The major drawback of the AIXI model is that it is
uncomputable. To overcome this problem, we construct a modified algorithm
AIXI^tl, which is still superior to any other time t and space l bounded agent.
The computation time of AIXI^tl is of the order t x 2^l.Comment: 8 two-column pages, latex2e, 1 figure, submitted to ijca
Computational Problems in Metric Fixed Point Theory and their Weihrauch Degrees
We study the computational difficulty of the problem of finding fixed points
of nonexpansive mappings in uniformly convex Banach spaces. We show that the
fixed point sets of computable nonexpansive self-maps of a nonempty, computably
weakly closed, convex and bounded subset of a computable real Hilbert space are
precisely the nonempty, co-r.e. weakly closed, convex subsets of the domain. A
uniform version of this result allows us to determine the Weihrauch degree of
the Browder-Goehde-Kirk theorem in computable real Hilbert space: it is
equivalent to a closed choice principle, which receives as input a closed,
convex and bounded set via negative information in the weak topology and
outputs a point in the set, represented in the strong topology. While in finite
dimensional uniformly convex Banach spaces, computable nonexpansive mappings
always have computable fixed points, on the unit ball in infinite-dimensional
separable Hilbert space the Browder-Goehde-Kirk theorem becomes
Weihrauch-equivalent to the limit operator, and on the Hilbert cube it is
equivalent to Weak Koenig's Lemma. In particular, computable nonexpansive
mappings may not have any computable fixed points in infinite dimension. We
also study the computational difficulty of the problem of finding rates of
convergence for a large class of fixed point iterations, which generalise both
Halpern- and Mann-iterations, and prove that the problem of finding rates of
convergence already on the unit interval is equivalent to the limit operator.Comment: 44 page
Synchronous Online Philosophy Courses: An Experiment in Progress
There are two main ways to teach a course online: synchronously or asynchronously. In an asynchronous course, students can log on at their convenience and do the course work. In a synchronous course, there is a requirement that all students be online at specific times, to allow for a shared course environment. In this article, the author discusses the strengths and weaknesses of synchronous online learning for the teaching of undergraduate philosophy courses. The author discusses specific strategies and technologies he uses in the teaching of online philosophy courses. In particular, the author discusses how he uses videoconferencing to create a classroom-like environment in an online class
An approach to computing downward closures
The downward closure of a word language is the set of all (not necessarily
contiguous) subwords of its members. It is well-known that the downward closure
of any language is regular. While the downward closure appears to be a powerful
abstraction, algorithms for computing a finite automaton for the downward
closure of a given language have been established only for few language
classes.
This work presents a simple general method for computing downward closures.
For language classes that are closed under rational transductions, it is shown
that the computation of downward closures can be reduced to checking a certain
unboundedness property.
This result is used to prove that downward closures are computable for (i)
every language class with effectively semilinear Parikh images that are closed
under rational transductions, (ii) matrix languages, and (iii) indexed
languages (equivalently, languages accepted by higher-order pushdown automata
of order 2).Comment: Full version of contribution to ICALP 2015. Comments welcom
Unboundedness Problems for Languages of Vector Addition Systems
A vector addition system (VAS) with an initial and a final marking and transition labels induces a language. In part because the reachability problem in VAS remains far from being well-understood, it is difficult to devise decision procedures for such languages. This is especially true for checking properties that state the existence of infinitely many words of a particular shape. Informally, we call these unboundedness properties.
We present a simple set of axioms for predicates that can express unboundedness properties. Our main result is that such a predicate is decidable for VAS languages as soon as it is decidable for regular languages. Among other results, this allows us to show decidability of (i) separability by bounded regular languages, (ii) unboundedness of occurring factors from a language K with mild conditions on K, and (iii) universality of the set of factors
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