7,767 research outputs found
Verifying Time Complexity of Deterministic Turing Machines
We show that, for all reasonable functions , we can
algorithmically verify whether a given one-tape Turing machine runs in time at
most . This is a tight bound on the order of growth for the function
because we prove that, for and , there
exists no algorithm that would verify whether a given one-tape Turing machine
runs in time at most .
We give results also for the case of multi-tape Turing machines. We show that
we can verify whether a given multi-tape Turing machine runs in time at most
iff for some .
We prove a very general undecidability result stating that, for any class of
functions that contains arbitrary large constants, we cannot
verify whether a given Turing machine runs in time for some
. In particular, we cannot verify whether a Turing machine
runs in constant, polynomial or exponential time.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figur
Logics for complexity classes
A new syntactic characterization of problems complete via Turing reductions
is presented. General canonical forms are developed in order to define such
problems. One of these forms allows us to define complete problems on ordered
structures, and another form to define them on unordered non-Aristotelian
structures. Using the canonical forms, logics are developed for complete
problems in various complexity classes. Evidence is shown that there cannot be
any complete problem on Aristotelian structures for several complexity classes.
Our approach is extended beyond complete problems. Using a similar form, a
logic is developed to capture the complexity class which very
likely contains no complete problem.Comment: This article has been accepted for publication in Logic Journal of
IGPL Published by Oxford University Press; 23 pages, 2 figure
Computing with and without arbitrary large numbers
In the study of random access machines (RAMs) it has been shown that the
availability of an extra input integer, having no special properties other than
being sufficiently large, is enough to reduce the computational complexity of
some problems. However, this has only been shown so far for specific problems.
We provide a characterization of the power of such extra inputs for general
problems. To do so, we first correct a classical result by Simon and Szegedy
(1992) as well as one by Simon (1981). In the former we show mistakes in the
proof and correct these by an entirely new construction, with no great change
to the results. In the latter, the original proof direction stands with only
minor modifications, but the new results are far stronger than those of Simon
(1981). In both cases, the new constructions provide the theoretical tools
required to characterize the power of arbitrary large numbers.Comment: 12 pages (main text) + 30 pages (appendices), 1 figure. Extended
abstract. The full paper was presented at TAMC 2013. (Reference given is for
the paper version, as it appears in the proceedings.
The RAM equivalent of P vs. RP
One of the fundamental open questions in computational complexity is whether
the class of problems solvable by use of stochasticity under the Random
Polynomial time (RP) model is larger than the class of those solvable in
deterministic polynomial time (P). However, this question is only open for
Turing Machines, not for Random Access Machines (RAMs).
Simon (1981) was able to show that for a sufficiently equipped Random Access
Machine, the ability to switch states nondeterministically does not entail any
computational advantage. However, in the same paper, Simon describes a
different (and arguably more natural) scenario for stochasticity under the RAM
model. According to Simon's proposal, instead of receiving a new random bit at
each execution step, the RAM program is able to execute the pseudofunction
, which returns a uniformly distributed random integer in the
range . Whether the ability to allot a random integer in this fashion is
more powerful than the ability to allot a random bit remained an open question
for the last 30 years.
In this paper, we close Simon's open problem, by fully characterising the
class of languages recognisable in polynomial time by each of the RAMs
regarding which the question was posed. We show that for some of these,
stochasticity entails no advantage, but, more interestingly, we show that for
others it does.Comment: 23 page
Linear-algebraic lambda-calculus
With a view towards models of quantum computation and/or the interpretation
of linear logic, we define a functional language where all functions are linear
operators by construction. A small step operational semantic (and hence an
interpreter/simulator) is provided for this language in the form of a term
rewrite system. The linear-algebraic lambda-calculus hereby constructed is
linear in a different (yet related) sense to that, say, of the linear
lambda-calculus. These various notions of linearity are discussed in the
context of quantum programming languages. KEYWORDS: quantum lambda-calculus,
linear lambda-calculus, -calculus, quantum logics.Comment: LaTeX, 23 pages, 10 figures and the LINEAL language
interpreter/simulator file (see "other formats"). See the more recent
arXiv:quant-ph/061219
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