Computability Theory

Computability is one of the fundamental notions of mathematics, trying to capture the effective content of mathematics. Starting from Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem, it has now blossomed into a rich area with strong connections with other areas of mathematical logic as well as algebra and theoretical computer science

Grammars working on layered strings

We consider first an operation with strings and languages suggested by superposed windows on the computer screen (as well as by cryptographic systems of Richelieu type): we assume that the strings contain usual symbols as well as a transparent symbol. Superposing two strings (justified to left), we produce a new string consisting of the symbols observable from above. This operation is investigated as an abstract operation on strings, then it is used in building a variant of grammar systems with the component grammars working on the layers of an array of strings. Each grammar can rewrite only symbols in its layer which are observable from above. The language generated in this way consists of strings of the observable symbols, produced at the end of a derivation. The power of several variants of these generative mechanisms is investigated for the case of two layered strings. When a matrix-like control on the work of the component grammars is considered, then a characterization of recursively enumerable languages is obtained

2-Testability and Relabelings Produce Everything

AbstractWe show that grammar systems with communication by command and with extremely simple rewriting rules (in fact, only relabelings are needed) are able to generate all recursively enumerable languages. The result settles several open problems in the area of grammar systems. We also present the result in a general framework, without referring to grammar systems, obtaining a characterization of recursively enumerable languages from a new point of view

A Note on Emergence in Multi-Agent String Processing Systems

We propose a way to define (and, in a certain extent, even to measure) the phenomenon of emergence which appears in a complex system of interacting agents whose global behaviour can be described by a language and whose components (agents) can also be associated with grammars and languages. The basic idea is to identify the "linear composition of behaviours" with "closure under basic operations", such as the AFL (Abstract Families of Languages) operations, which are standard in the theory of formal languages