1,460 research outputs found
A Primer on the Tools and Concepts of Computable Economics
Computability theory came into being as a result of Hilbert's attempts to meet Brouwer's challenges, from an intuitionistc and constructive standpoint, to formalism as a foundation for mathematical practice. Viewed this way, constructive mathematics should be one vision of computability theory. However, there are fundamental differences between computability theory and constructive mathematics: the Church-Turing thesis is a disciplining criterion in the former and not in the latter; and classical logic - particularly, the law of the excluded middle - is not accepted in the latter but freely invoked in the former, especially in proving universal negative propositions. In Computable Economic an eclectic approach is adopted where the main criterion is numerical content for economic entities. In this sense both the computable and the constructive traditions are freely and indiscriminately invoked and utilised in the formalization of economic entities. Some of the mathematical methods and concepts of computable economics are surveyed in a pedagogical mode. The context is that of a digital economy embedded in an information society
Quantum Algorithm for Hilbert's Tenth Problem
We explore in the framework of Quantum Computation the notion of {\em
Computability}, which holds a central position in Mathematics and Theoretical
Computer Science. A quantum algorithm for Hilbert's tenth problem, which is
equivalent to the Turing halting problem and is known to be mathematically
noncomputable, is proposed where quantum continuous variables and quantum
adiabatic evolution are employed. If this algorithm could be physically
implemented, as much as it is valid in principle--that is, if certain
hamiltonian and its ground state can be physically constructed according to the
proposal--quantum computability would surpass classical computability as
delimited by the Church-Turing thesis. It is thus argued that computability,
and with it the limits of Mathematics, ought to be determined not solely by
Mathematics itself but also by Physical Principles
Minsky machines and algorithmic problems
This is a survey of using Minsky machines to study algorithmic problems in
semigroups, groups and other algebraic systems.Comment: 19 page
Uncomputability and Undecidability in Economic Theory
Economic theory, game theory and mathematical statistics have all increasingly become algorithmic sciences. Computable Economics, Algorithmic Game Theory ([28]) and Algorithmic Statistics ([13]) are frontier research subjects. All of them, each in its own way, are underpinned by (classical) recursion theory - and its applied branches, say computational complexity theory or algorithmic information theory - and, occasionally, proof theory. These research paradigms have posed new mathematical and metamathematical questions and, inadvertently, undermined the traditional mathematical foundations of economic theory. A concise, but partial, pathway into these new frontiers is the subject matter of this paper. Interpreting the core of mathematical economic theory to be defined by General Equilibrium Theory and Game Theory, a general - but concise - analysis of the computable and decidable content of the implications of these two areas are discussed. Issues at the frontiers of macroeconomics, now dominated by Recursive Macroeconomic Theory, are also tackled, albeit ultra briefly. The point of view adopted is that of classical recursion theory and varieties of constructive mathematics.General Equilibrium Theory, Game Theory, Recursive Macro-economics, (Un)computability, (Un)decidability, Constructivity
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Comparison of max-plus automata and joint spectral radius of tropical matrices
Weighted automata over the max-plus semiring S are closely related to finitely generated semigroups of matrices over S. In this paper, we use results in automata theory to study two quantities associated with sets of matrices: the joint spectral radius and the ultimate rank. We prove that these two quantities are not computable over the tropical semiring, i.e. there is no algorithm that takes as input a finite set of matrices M and provides as output the joint spectral radius (resp. the ultimate rank) of M. On the other hand, we prove that the joint spectral radius is nevertheless approximable and we exhibit restricted cases in which the joint spectral radius and the ultimate rank are computable. To reach this aim, we study the problem of comparing functions computed by weighted automata over the tropical semiring. This problem is known to be undecidable and we prove that it remains undecidable in some specific subclasses of automata
Integer Vector Addition Systems with States
This paper studies reachability, coverability and inclusion problems for
Integer Vector Addition Systems with States (ZVASS) and extensions and
restrictions thereof. A ZVASS comprises a finite-state controller with a finite
number of counters ranging over the integers. Although it is folklore that
reachability in ZVASS is NP-complete, it turns out that despite their
naturalness, from a complexity point of view this class has received little
attention in the literature. We fill this gap by providing an in-depth analysis
of the computational complexity of the aforementioned decision problems. Most
interestingly, it turns out that while the addition of reset operations to
ordinary VASS leads to undecidability and Ackermann-hardness of reachability
and coverability, respectively, they can be added to ZVASS while retaining
NP-completness of both coverability and reachability.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure
Revisiting Synthesis for One-Counter Automata
We study the (parameter) synthesis problem for one-counter automata with
parameters. One-counter automata are obtained by extending classical
finite-state automata with a counter whose value can range over non-negative
integers and be tested for zero. The updates and tests applicable to the
counter can further be made parametric by introducing a set of integer-valued
variables called parameters. The synthesis problem for such automata asks
whether there exists a valuation of the parameters such that all infinite runs
of the automaton satisfy some omega-regular property. Lechner showed that (the
complement of) the problem can be encoded in a restricted one-alternation
fragment of Presburger arithmetic with divisibility. In this work (i) we argue
that said fragment, called AERPADPLUS, is unfortunately undecidable.
Nevertheless, by a careful re-encoding of the problem into a decidable
restriction of AERPADPLUS, (ii) we prove that the synthesis problem is
decidable in general and in N2EXP for several fixed omega-regular properties.
Finally, (iii) we give a polynomial-space algorithm for the special case of the
problem where parameters can only be used in tests, and not updates, of the
counter
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