The cycle contraction mapping theorem

This report lays the foundation for a theory of total correctness for programs not based upon termination. The Cycle Contraction Mapping Theorem is both an extension of Wadge's cycle sum theorem for Kahn data flow and a generalisation of Banach's contraction mapping theorem to a class of quasi metric spaces definable using the symmetric Partial Metric distance function. This work provides considerable evidence that it is possible after all to construct a metric theory for Scott style partial order domains

Total Representations

Almost all representations considered in computable analysis are partial. We provide arguments in favor of total representations (by elements of the Baire space). Total representations make the well known analogy between numberings and representations closer, unify some terminology, simplify some technical details, suggest interesting open questions and new invariants of topological spaces relevant to computable analysis.Comment: 30 page

Levels of discontinuity, limit-computability, and jump operators

We develop a general theory of jump operators, which is intended to provide an abstraction of the notion of "limit-computability" on represented spaces. Jump operators also provide a framework with a strong categorical flavor for investigating degrees of discontinuity of functions and hierarchies of sets on represented spaces. We will provide a thorough investigation within this framework of a hierarchy of $\Delta^0_2$-measurable functions between arbitrary countably based $T_0$-spaces, which captures the notion of computing with ordinal mind-change bounds. Our abstract approach not only raises new questions but also sheds new light on previous results. For example, we introduce a notion of "higher order" descriptive set theoretical objects, we generalize a recent characterization of the computability theoretic notion of "lowness" in terms of adjoint functors, and we show that our framework encompasses ordinal quantifications of the non-constructiveness of Hilbert's finite basis theorem

Wadge-like reducibilities on arbitrary quasi-Polish spaces

The structure of the Wadge degrees on zero-dimensional spaces is very simple (almost well-ordered), but for many other natural non-zero-dimensional spaces (including the space of reals) this structure is much more complicated. We consider weaker notions of reducibility, including the so-called \Delta^0_\alpha-reductions, and try to find for various natural topological spaces X the least ordinal \alpha_X such that for every \alpha_X \leq \beta < \omega_1 the degree-structure induced on X by the \Delta^0_\beta-reductions is simple (i.e. similar to the Wadge hierarchy on the Baire space). We show that \alpha_X \leq {\omega} for every quasi-Polish space X, that \alpha_X \leq 3 for quasi-Polish spaces of dimension different from \infty, and that this last bound is in fact optimal for many (quasi-)Polish spaces, including the real line and its powers.Comment: 50 pages, revised version, accepted for publication on Mathematical Structures in Computer Scienc

The topology of partial metric spaces

The T0 world of Scott's topological models used in the denotational semantics of programming languages may at first sight appear to have nothing whatever in common with the Hausdorff world of metric space theory. Can this be true though when the notion of "distance" is so important in the application of inductive proof theory to recursive definitions? This paper shows that existing work on the application of quasi metrics to denotational semantics can be taken much further than just describing Scott topologies. Using our "partial metric" we introduce a new approach by constructing each semantic domain as an Alexandrov topology "sandwiched" between two metric topologies. To be presented at the Eighth Summer Conference on General Topology and Applications, June 18-20 1992, Queens College, New York City

06341 Abstracts Collection -- Computational Structures for Modelling Space, Time and Causality

From 20.08.06 to 25.08.06, the Dagstuhl Seminar 06341 ``Computational Structures for Modelling Space, Time and Causality\u27\u27 was held in the International Conference and Research Center (IBFI), Schloss Dagstuhl. During the seminar, several participants presented their current research, and ongoing work and open problems were discussed. Abstracts of the presentations given during the seminar as well as abstracts of seminar results and ideas are put together in this paper. The first section describes the seminar topics and goals in general. Links to extended abstracts or full papers are provided, if available