13,278 research outputs found
Effective Choice and Boundedness Principles in Computable Analysis
In this paper we study a new approach to classify mathematical theorems
according to their computational content. Basically, we are asking the question
which theorems can be continuously or computably transferred into each other?
For this purpose theorems are considered via their realizers which are
operations with certain input and output data. The technical tool to express
continuous or computable relations between such operations is Weihrauch
reducibility and the partially ordered degree structure induced by it. We have
identified certain choice principles which are cornerstones among Weihrauch
degrees and it turns out that certain core theorems in analysis can be
classified naturally in this structure. In particular, we study theorems such
as the Intermediate Value Theorem, the Baire Category Theorem, the Banach
Inverse Mapping Theorem and others. We also explore how existing
classifications of the Hahn-Banach Theorem and Weak K"onig's Lemma fit into
this picture. We compare the results of our classification with existing
classifications in constructive and reverse mathematics and we claim that in a
certain sense our classification is finer and sheds some new light on the
computational content of the respective theorems. We develop a number of
separation techniques based on a new parallelization principle, on certain
invariance properties of Weihrauch reducibility, on the Low Basis Theorem of
Jockusch and Soare and based on the Baire Category Theorem. Finally, we present
a number of metatheorems that allow to derive upper bounds for the
classification of the Weihrauch degree of many theorems and we discuss the
Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem as an example
On algorithm and robustness in a non-standard sense
In this paper, we investigate the invariance properties, i.e. robust- ness, of phenomena related to the notions of algorithm, finite procedure and explicit construction. First of all, we provide two examples of objects for which small changes completely change their (non)computational behavior. We then isolate robust phenomena in two disciplines related to computability
On the Invariance of G\"odel's Second Theorem with regard to Numberings
The prevalent interpretation of G\"odel's Second Theorem states that a
sufficiently adequate and consistent theory does not prove its consistency. It
is however not entirely clear how to justify this informal reading, as the
formulation of the underlying mathematical theorem depends on several arbitrary
formalisation choices. In this paper I examine the theorem's dependency
regarding G\"odel numberings. I introduce deviant numberings, yielding
provability predicates satisfying L\"ob's conditions, which result in provable
consistency sentences. According to the main result of this paper however,
these "counterexamples" do not refute the theorem's prevalent interpretation,
since once a natural class of admissible numberings is singled out, invariance
is maintained.Comment: Forthcoming in The Review of Symbolic Logi
Kolmogorov Complexity in perspective. Part I: Information Theory and Randomnes
We survey diverse approaches to the notion of information: from Shannon
entropy to Kolmogorov complexity. Two of the main applications of Kolmogorov
complexity are presented: randomness and classification. The survey is divided
in two parts in the same volume. Part I is dedicated to information theory and
the mathematical formalization of randomness based on Kolmogorov complexity.
This last application goes back to the 60's and 70's with the work of
Martin-L\"of, Schnorr, Chaitin, Levin, and has gained new impetus in the last
years.Comment: 40 page
On Universal Prediction and Bayesian Confirmation
The Bayesian framework is a well-studied and successful framework for
inductive reasoning, which includes hypothesis testing and confirmation,
parameter estimation, sequence prediction, classification, and regression. But
standard statistical guidelines for choosing the model class and prior are not
always available or fail, in particular in complex situations. Solomonoff
completed the Bayesian framework by providing a rigorous, unique, formal, and
universal choice for the model class and the prior. We discuss in breadth how
and in which sense universal (non-i.i.d.) sequence prediction solves various
(philosophical) problems of traditional Bayesian sequence prediction. We show
that Solomonoff's model possesses many desirable properties: Strong total and
weak instantaneous bounds, and in contrast to most classical continuous prior
densities has no zero p(oste)rior problem, i.e. can confirm universal
hypotheses, is reparametrization and regrouping invariant, and avoids the
old-evidence and updating problem. It even performs well (actually better) in
non-computable environments.Comment: 24 page
Bad Universal Priors and Notions of Optimality
A big open question of algorithmic information theory is the choice of the
universal Turing machine (UTM). For Kolmogorov complexity and Solomonoff
induction we have invariance theorems: the choice of the UTM changes bounds
only by a constant. For the universally intelligent agent AIXI (Hutter, 2005)
no invariance theorem is known. Our results are entirely negative: we discuss
cases in which unlucky or adversarial choices of the UTM cause AIXI to
misbehave drastically. We show that Legg-Hutter intelligence and thus balanced
Pareto optimality is entirely subjective, and that every policy is Pareto
optimal in the class of all computable environments. This undermines all
existing optimality properties for AIXI. While it may still serve as a gold
standard for AI, our results imply that AIXI is a relative theory, dependent on
the choice of the UTM.Comment: COLT 201
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