Mathematics Atlas

How Proof Is Made
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Branches of Mathematic

Computability Theory

Logic, Foundations and Set Theory

Computability theory, also called recursion theory, is the branch of mathematical logic that studies which functions can be computed by an effective, mechanical procedure and which cannot, and how computable problems can be ranked by their relative difficulty. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Central Question
Which functions and sets are computable by some effective procedure at all, and among those that are not, how their difficulty can be measured and compared. 1
Key Debate
What counts as an effective procedure in the first place. Alan Turing's 1936 formalization of computability gave the field its main working definition, one that converged with Kurt Godel's independent work on effectively generated theories to suggest that the notion, however it was formalized, was capturing something genuinely fixed rather than an artifact of any one formalism. 1
Classification
Pure or Applied
Pure Mathematics 1
Computability Theory
Filter Results1 entry
Connections

Associated With

Includes

Source Ackermann Function (Wikipedia)
Algorithm, Concepts
Source Emil Leon Post (Wikipedia)
Source Kleene's Recursion Theorem (Wikipedia)
Source Myhill isomorphism theorem, Wikipedia
Source Post's theorem, Wikipedia
Source Primitive Recursive Function (Wikipedia)
Source Rice-Shapiro theorem, Wikipedia
Source Wikipedia: Smn theorem
Source Stephen Cole Kleene (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Computability Theory
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Introduction section
    a branch of mathematical logic, computer science, and the theory of computation that originated in the 1930s with the study of computable functions and Turing degrees
  • Relative computability and the Turing degrees section
    The Turing degree of a set gives a precise measure of how uncomputable the set is.
  • Introduction section, Church-Turing thesis naming
    In 1952, these results led Kleene to coin the two names 'Church's thesis' and 'Turing's thesis'.
View the Source
Stone-Weierstrass Theorem (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • lead paragraph
    Computability theory, also known as recursion theory, is a branch of mathematical logic, computer science, and the theory of computation that originated in the 1930s with the study of computable functions and Turing degrees.
  • Turing computability section
    The main form of computability studied in the field was introduced by Turing in 1936.
  • lead section
    Godel's proofs show that the set of logical consequences of an effective first-order theory is a computably enumerable set.
View the Source
Post's theorem, Wikipedia
Includes: Post's Theorem, Lead sentence
Quote, Includes: Post's Theorem, Lead sentence
In computability theory, Post's theorem, named after Emil Post, describes the connection between the arithmetical hierarchy and th
View the Source
Ackermann Function (Wikipedia)
Includes: Ackermann Function, Lead sentence
Quote, Includes: Ackermann Function, Lead sentence
In computability theory, the Ackermann function, named after Wilhelm Ackermann, is one of the simplest and earliest-discovered exa
View the Source
Primitive Recursive Function (Wikipedia)
Includes: Primitive Recursive Function, Lead sentence
Quote, Includes: Primitive Recursive Function, Lead sentence
In computability theory, a primitive recursive function is, roughly speaking, a function that can be computed by a computer progra
View the Source
Rice-Shapiro theorem, Wikipedia
Includes: Rice-Shapiro Theorem, Lead sentenceView the Source
Kleene's Recursion Theorem (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Kleene's Recursion Theorem, Lead sentence
Quote, Includes: Kleene's Recursion Theorem, Lead sentence
In computability theory, Kleene's recursion theorems are a pair of fundamental results about the application of computable functio
View the Source
Wikipedia: Smn theorem
WikipediaIncludes: S-m-n Theorem, Lead sentence
Quote, Includes: S-m-n Theorem, Lead sentence
In computability theory the S mn theorem, written also as "smn-theorem" or "s-m-n theorem" (also called the translation lemma, par
View the Source
Myhill isomorphism theorem, Wikipedia
Includes: Myhill Isomorphism Theorem, Lead sentence
Quote, Includes: Myhill Isomorphism Theorem, Lead sentence
In computability theory the Myhill isomorphism theorem, named after John Myhill, provides a characterization for two numberings to
View the Source
Stephen Cole Kleene (Wikipedia)
Includes: Stephen Cole Kleene, Lead paragraph [in-branch]
Quote, Includes: Stephen Cole Kleene, Lead paragraph [in-branch]
recursion theory
View the Source
Emil Leon Post (Wikipedia)
Includes: Emil Post, Lead paragraph [in-branch]
Quote, Includes: Emil Post, Lead paragraph [in-branch]
computability theory
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.