3,693 research outputs found
The Algebraic View of Computation
We argue that computation is an abstract algebraic concept, and a computer is
a result of a morphism (a structure preserving map) from a finite universal
semigroup.Comment: 13 pages, final version will be published elsewher
Monoidal computer III: A coalgebraic view of computability and complexity
Monoidal computer is a categorical model of intensional computation, where
many different programs correspond to the same input-output behavior. The
upshot of yet another model of computation is that a categorical formalism
should provide a much needed high level language for theory of computation,
flexible enough to allow abstracting away the low level implementation details
when they are irrelevant, or taking them into account when they are genuinely
needed. A salient feature of the approach through monoidal categories is the
formal graphical language of string diagrams, which supports visual reasoning
about programs and computations.
In the present paper, we provide a coalgebraic characterization of monoidal
computer. It turns out that the availability of interpreters and specializers,
that make a monoidal category into a monoidal computer, is equivalent with the
existence of a *universal state space*, that carries a weakly final state
machine for any pair of input and output types. Being able to program state
machines in monoidal computers allows us to represent Turing machines, to
capture their execution, count their steps, as well as, e.g., the memory cells
that they use. The coalgebraic view of monoidal computer thus provides a
convenient diagrammatic language for studying computability and complexity.Comment: 34 pages, 24 figures; in this version: added the Appendi
Quantum Branching Programs and Space-Bounded Nonuniform Quantum Complexity
In this paper, the space complexity of nonuniform quantum computations is
investigated. The model chosen for this are quantum branching programs, which
provide a graphic description of sequential quantum algorithms. In the first
part of the paper, simulations between quantum branching programs and
nonuniform quantum Turing machines are presented which allow to transfer lower
and upper bound results between the two models. In the second part of the
paper, different variants of quantum OBDDs are compared with their
deterministic and randomized counterparts. In the third part, quantum branching
programs are considered where the performed unitary operation may depend on the
result of a previous measurement. For this model a simulation of randomized
OBDDs and exponential lower bounds are presented.Comment: 45 pages, 3 Postscript figures. Proofs rearranged, typos correcte
The Cardinality of an Oracle in Blum-Shub-Smale Computation
We examine the relation of BSS-reducibility on subsets of the real numbers.
The question was asked recently (and anonymously) whether it is possible for
the halting problem H in BSS-computation to be BSS-reducible to a countable
set. Intuitively, it seems that a countable set ought not to contain enough
information to decide membership in a reasonably complex (uncountable) set such
as H. We confirm this intuition, and prove a more general theorem linking the
cardinality of the oracle set to the cardinality, in a local sense, of the set
which it computes. We also mention other recent results on BSS-computation and
algebraic real numbers
Functional units for natural numbers
Interaction with services provided by an execution environment forms part of
the behaviours exhibited by instruction sequences under execution. Mechanisms
related to the kind of interaction in question have been proposed in the
setting of thread algebra. Like thread, service is an abstract behavioural
concept. The concept of a functional unit is similar to the concept of a
service, but more concrete. A state space is inherent in the concept of a
functional unit, whereas it is not inherent in the concept of a service. In
this paper, we establish the existence of a universal computable functional
unit for natural numbers and related results.Comment: 17 pages; notational mistakes in tables 5 and 6 corrected; erroneous
definition at bottom of page 9 correcte
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