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Deductive Lambda Calculus
Deductive lambda calculus considers what happens when lambda terms are regarded as mathematical expressions. One interpretation of the untyped lambda calculus is as a programming language where evaluation proceeds by performing reductions on an expression until it is in normal form. In this interpretation, if the expression never reduces to normal form then the program never terminates, and the value is undefined. Considered as a mathematical deductive system, each reduction would not alter the value of the expression. The expression would equal the reduction of the expression. History Alonzo Church invented the lambda calculus in the 1930s, originally to provide a new and simpler basis for mathematics. However soon after inventing it major logic problems were identified with the definition of the lambda abstraction: The Kleene–Rosser paradox is an implementation of Richard's paradox in the lambda calculus. Haskell Curry found that the key step in this paradox could be used t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lambda Calculus
Lambda calculus (also written as ''λ''-calculus) is a formal system in mathematical logic for expressing computation based on function abstraction and application using variable binding and substitution. It is a universal model of computation that can be used to simulate any Turing machine. It was introduced by the mathematician Alonzo Church in the 1930s as part of his research into the foundations of mathematics. Lambda calculus consists of constructing § lambda terms and performing § reduction operations on them. In the simplest form of lambda calculus, terms are built using only the following rules: * x – variable, a character or string representing a parameter or mathematical/logical value. * (\lambda x.M) – abstraction, function definition (M is a lambda term). The variable x becomes bound in the expression. * (M\ N) – application, applying a function M to an argument N. M and N are lambda terms. The reduction operations include: * (\lambda x.M \rightarrow(\ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Instantiation
In predicate logic, universal instantiation (UI; also called universal specification or universal elimination, and sometimes confused with '' dictum de omni'') is a valid rule of inference from a truth about each member of a class of individuals to the truth about a particular individual of that class. It is generally given as a quantification rule for the universal quantifier but it can also be encoded in an axiom schema. It is one of the basic principles used in quantification theory. Example: "All dogs are mammals. Fido is a dog. Therefore Fido is a mammal." Formally, the rule as an axiom schema is given as : \forall x \, A \Rightarrow A\, for every formula ''A'' and every term ''a'', where A\ is the result of substituting ''a'' for each ''free'' occurrence of ''x'' in ''A''. \, A\ is an instance of \forall x \, A. And as a rule of inference it is :from \vdash \forall x A infer \vdash A \ . Irving Copi noted that universal instantiation "... follows from variants of rules ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rational
Rationality is the quality of being guided by or based on reasons. In this regard, a person acts rationally if they have a good reason for what they do or a belief is rational if it is based on strong evidence. This quality can apply to an ability, as in rational animal, to a psychological process, like reasoning, to mental states, such as beliefs and intentions, or to persons who possess these other forms of rationality. A thing that lacks rationality is either ''arational'', if it is outside the domain of rational evaluation, or '' irrational'', if it belongs to this domain but does not fulfill its standards. There are many discussions about the essential features shared by all forms of rationality. According to reason-responsiveness accounts, to be rational is to be responsive to reasons. For example, dark clouds are a reason for taking an umbrella, which is why it is rational for an agent to do so in response. An important rival to this approach are coherence-based acco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fixed-point Combinator
In mathematics and computer science in general, a '' fixed point'' of a function is a value that is mapped to itself by the function. In combinatory logic for computer science, a fixed-point combinator (or fixpoint combinator) is a higher-order function \textsf that returns some fixed point of its argument function, if one exists. Formally, if the function ''f'' has one or more fixed points, then : \textsf\ f = f\ (\textsf\ f)\ , and hence, by repeated application, : \textsf\ f = f\ (f\ ( \ldots f\ (\textsf\ f) \ldots))\ . Y combinator In the classical untyped lambda calculus, every function has a fixed point. A particular implementation of fix is Curry's paradoxical combinator Y, represented by : \textsf = \lambda f. \ (\lambda x.f\ (x\ x))\ (\lambda x.f\ (x\ x))\ .Throughout this article, the syntax rules given in Lambda calculus#Notation are used, to save parentheses.For an arbitrary lambda term ''f'', the fixed-point property can be validated by beta reducing the left- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Church–Rosser Theorem
In lambda calculus, the Church–Rosser theorem states that, when applying reduction rules to terms, the ordering in which the reductions are chosen does not make a difference to the eventual result. More precisely, if there are two distinct reductions or sequences of reductions that can be applied to the same term, then there exists a term that is reachable from both results, by applying (possibly empty) sequences of additional reductions. The theorem was proved in 1936 by Alonzo Church and J. Barkley Rosser, after whom it is named. The theorem is symbolized by the adjacent diagram: If term ''a'' can be reduced to both ''b'' and ''c'', then there must be a further term ''d'' (possibly equal to either ''b'' or ''c'') to which both ''b'' and ''c'' can be reduced. Viewing the lambda calculus as an abstract rewriting system, the Church–Rosser theorem states that the reduction rules of the lambda calculus are confluent. As a consequence of the theorem, a term in the lambda calcul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Church Encoding
In mathematics, Church encoding is a means of representing data and operators in the lambda calculus. The Church numerals are a representation of the natural numbers using lambda notation. The method is named for Alonzo Church, who first encoded data in the lambda calculus this way. Terms that are usually considered primitive in other notations (such as integers, booleans, pairs, lists, and tagged unions) are mapped to higher-order functions under Church encoding. The Church-Turing thesis asserts that any computable operator (and its operands) can be represented under Church encoding. In the untyped lambda calculus the only primitive data type is the function. Use A straightforward implementation of Church encoding slows some access operations from O(1) to O(n), where n is the size of the data structure, making Church encoding impractical. Research has shown that this can be addressed by targeted optimizations, but most functional programming languages instead expand their in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Distributive Property
In mathematics, the distributive property of binary operations generalizes the distributive law, which asserts that the equality x \cdot (y + z) = x \cdot y + x \cdot z is always true in elementary algebra. For example, in elementary arithmetic, one has 2 \cdot (1 + 3) = (2 \cdot 1) + (2 \cdot 3). One says that multiplication ''distributes'' over addition. This basic property of numbers is part of the definition of most algebraic structures that have two operations called addition and multiplication, such as complex numbers, polynomials, matrices, rings, and fields. It is also encountered in Boolean algebra and mathematical logic, where each of the logical and (denoted \,\land\,) and the logical or (denoted \,\lor\,) distributes over the other. Definition Given a set S and two binary operators \,*\, and \,+\, on S, *the operation \,*\, is over (or with respect to) \,+\, if, given any elements x, y, \text z of S, x * (y + z) = (x * y) + (x * z); *the operation \,*\ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arithmetic
Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th century, Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano formalized arithmetic with his Peano axioms, which are highly important to the field of mathematical logic today. History The prehistory of arithmetic is limited to a small number of artifacts, which may indicate the conception of addition and subtraction, the best-known being the Ishango bone from central Africa, dating from somewhere between 20,000 and 18,000 BC, although its interpretation is disputed. The earliest written records indicate the Egyptians and Babylonians used all the elementary arithmetic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, as early as 2000 BC. These artifacts do not always reveal the specific process used for solving problems, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canonical Form
In mathematics and computer science, a canonical, normal, or standard form of a mathematical object is a standard way of presenting that object as a mathematical expression. Often, it is one which provides the simplest representation of an object and which allows it to be identified in a unique way. The distinction between "canonical" and "normal" forms varies from subfield to subfield. In most fields, a canonical form specifies a ''unique'' representation for every object, while a normal form simply specifies its form, without the requirement of uniqueness. The canonical form of a positive integer in decimal representation is a finite sequence of digits that does not begin with zero. More generally, for a class of objects on which an equivalence relation is defined, a canonical form consists in the choice of a specific object in each class. For example: * Jordan normal form is a canonical form for matrix similarity. *The row echelon form is a canonical form, when one con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Typed Lambda Calculus
A typed lambda calculus is a typed formalism that uses the lambda-symbol (\lambda) to denote anonymous function abstraction. In this context, types are usually objects of a syntactic nature that are assigned to lambda terms; the exact nature of a type depends on the calculus considered (see kinds below). From a certain point of view, typed lambda calculi can be seen as refinements of the untyped lambda calculus, but from another point of view, they can also be considered the more fundamental theory and ''untyped lambda calculus'' a special case with only one type. Typed lambda calculi are foundational programming languages and are the base of typed functional programming languages such as ML and Haskell and, more indirectly, typed imperative programming languages. Typed lambda calculi play an important role in the design of type systems for programming languages; here, typability usually captures desirable properties of the program (e.g., the program will not cause a memory a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
