On the algebraic structure of Weihrauch degrees

We introduce two new operations (compositional products and implication) on Weihrauch degrees, and investigate the overall algebraic structure. The validity of the various distributivity laws is studied and forms the basis for a comparison with similar structures such as residuated lattices and concurrent Kleene algebras. Introducing the notion of an ideal with respect to the compositional product, we can consider suitable quotients of the Weihrauch degrees. We also prove some specific characterizations using the implication. In order to introduce and study compositional products and implications, we introduce and study a function space of multi-valued continuous functions. This space turns out to be particularly well-behaved for effectively traceable spaces that are closely related to admissibly represented spaces

Weihrauch goes Brouwerian

We prove that the Weihrauch lattice can be transformed into a Brouwer algebra by the consecutive application of two closure operators in the appropriate order: first completion and then parallelization. The closure operator of completion is a new closure operator that we introduce. It transforms any problem into a total problem on the completion of the respective types, where we allow any value outside of the original domain of the problem. This closure operator is of interest by itself, as it generates a total version of Weihrauch reducibility that is defined like the usual version of Weihrauch reducibility, but in terms of total realizers. From a logical perspective completion can be seen as a way to make problems independent of their premises. Alongside with the completion operator and total Weihrauch reducibility we need to study precomplete representations that are required to describe these concepts. In order to show that the parallelized total Weihrauch lattice forms a Brouwer algebra, we introduce a new multiplicative version of an implication. While the parallelized total Weihrauch lattice forms a Brouwer algebra with this implication, the total Weihrauch lattice fails to be a model of intuitionistic linear logic in two different ways. In order to pinpoint the algebraic reasons for this failure, we introduce the concept of a Weihrauch algebra that allows us to formulate the failure in precise and neat terms. Finally, we show that the Medvedev Brouwer algebra can be embedded into our Brouwer algebra, which also implies that the theory of our Brouwer algebra is Jankov logic.Comment: 36 page

The Bolzano-Weierstrass Theorem is the Jump of Weak K\"onig's Lemma

We classify the computational content of the Bolzano-Weierstrass Theorem and variants thereof in the Weihrauch lattice. For this purpose we first introduce the concept of a derivative or jump in this lattice and we show that it has some properties similar to the Turing jump. Using this concept we prove that the derivative of closed choice of a computable metric space is the cluster point problem of that space. By specialization to sequences with a relatively compact range we obtain a characterization of the Bolzano-Weierstrass Theorem as the derivative of compact choice. In particular, this shows that the Bolzano-Weierstrass Theorem on real numbers is the jump of Weak K\"onig's Lemma. Likewise, the Bolzano-Weierstrass Theorem on the binary space is the jump of the lesser limited principle of omniscience LLPO and the Bolzano-Weierstrass Theorem on natural numbers can be characterized as the jump of the idempotent closure of LLPO. We also introduce the compositional product of two Weihrauch degrees f and g as the supremum of the composition of any two functions below f and g, respectively. We can express the main result such that the Bolzano-Weierstrass Theorem is the compositional product of Weak K\"onig's Lemma and the Monotone Convergence Theorem. We also study the class of weakly limit computable functions, which are functions that can be obtained by composition of weakly computable functions with limit computable functions. We prove that the Bolzano-Weierstrass Theorem on real numbers is complete for this class. Likewise, the unique cluster point problem on real numbers is complete for the class of functions that are limit computable with finitely many mind changes. We also prove that the Bolzano-Weierstrass Theorem on real numbers and, more generally, the unbounded cluster point problem on real numbers is uniformly low limit computable. Finally, we also discuss separation techniques.Comment: This version includes an addendum by Andrea Cettolo, Matthias Schr\"oder, and the authors of the original paper. The addendum closes a gap in the proof of Theorem 11.2, which characterizes the computational content of the Bolzano-Weierstra\ss{} Theorem for arbitrary computable metric space

Probabilistic Computability and Choice

We study the computational power of randomized computations on infinite objects, such as real numbers. In particular, we introduce the concept of a Las Vegas computable multi-valued function, which is a function that can be computed on a probabilistic Turing machine that receives a random binary sequence as auxiliary input. The machine can take advantage of this random sequence, but it always has to produce a correct result or to stop the computation after finite time if the random advice is not successful. With positive probability the random advice has to be successful. We characterize the class of Las Vegas computable functions in the Weihrauch lattice with the help of probabilistic choice principles and Weak Weak K\H{o}nig's Lemma. Among other things we prove an Independent Choice Theorem that implies that Las Vegas computable functions are closed under composition. In a case study we show that Nash equilibria are Las Vegas computable, while zeros of continuous functions with sign changes cannot be computed on Las Vegas machines. However, we show that the latter problem admits randomized algorithms with weaker failure recognition mechanisms. The last mentioned results can be interpreted such that the Intermediate Value Theorem is reducible to the jump of Weak Weak K\H{o}nig's Lemma, but not to Weak Weak K\H{o}nig's Lemma itself. These examples also demonstrate that Las Vegas computable functions form a proper superclass of the class of computable functions and a proper subclass of the class of non-deterministically computable functions. We also study the impact of specific lower bounds on the success probabilities, which leads to a strict hierarchy of classes. In particular, the classical technique of probability amplification fails for computations on infinite objects. We also investigate the dependency on the underlying probability space.Comment: Information and Computation (accepted for publication

The descriptive theory of represented spaces

This is a survey on the ongoing development of a descriptive theory of represented spaces, which is intended as an extension of both classical and effective descriptive set theory to deal with both sets and functions between represented spaces. Most material is from work-in-progress, and thus there may be a stronger focus on projects involving the author than an objective survey would merit.Comment: survey of work-in-progres