280 research outputs found
Martin's conjecture, arithmetic equivalence, and countable Borel equivalence relations
There is a fascinating interplay and overlap between recursion theory and
descriptive set theory. A particularly beautiful source of such interaction has
been Martin's conjecture on Turing invariant functions. This longstanding open
problem in recursion theory has connected to many problems in descriptive set
theory, particularly in the theory of countable Borel equivalence relations.
In this paper, we shall give an overview of some work that has been done on
Martin's conjecture, and applications that it has had in descriptive set
theory. We will present a long unpublished result of Slaman and Steel that
arithmetic equivalence is a universal countable Borel equivalence relation.
This theorem has interesting corollaries for the theory of universal countable
Borel equivalence relations in general. We end with some open problems, and
directions for future research.Comment: Corrected typo
Independence, Relative Randomness, and PA Degrees
We study pairs of reals that are mutually Martin-L\"{o}f random with respect
to a common, not necessarily computable probability measure. We show that a
generalized version of van Lambalgen's Theorem holds for non-computable
probability measures, too. We study, for a given real , the
\emph{independence spectrum} of , the set of all so that there exists a
probability measure so that and is
-random. We prove that if is r.e., then no set
is in the independence spectrum of . We obtain applications of this fact to
PA degrees. In particular, we show that if is r.e.\ and is of PA degree
so that , then
Computational universes
Suspicions that the world might be some sort of a machine or algorithm
existing ``in the mind'' of some symbolic number cruncher have lingered from
antiquity. Although popular at times, the most radical forms of this idea never
reached mainstream. Modern developments in physics and computer science have
lent support to the thesis, but empirical evidence is needed before it can
begin to replace our contemporary world view.Comment: Several corrections of typos and smaller revisions, final versio
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
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