Related papers: Hardness of busy beaver value BB(15)
We describe an alternative method (to compression) that combines several theoretical and experimental results to numerically approximate the algorithmic (Kolmogorov-Chaitin) complexity of all $\sum_{n=1}^82^n$ bit strings up to 8 bits long,…
Through a straightforward Bayesian approach we show that under some general conditions a maximum running time, namely the number of discrete steps performed by a computer program during its execution, can be defined such that the…
We give new Turing machines that simulate the iteration of the Collatz 3x+1 function. First, a never halting Turing machine with 3 states and 4 symbols, improving the known 3x5 and 4x4 Turing machines. Second, Turing machines that halt on…
We consider computations of a Turing machine subjected to noise. In every step, the action (the new state and the new content of the observed cell, the direction of the head movement) can differ from that prescribed by the transition…
In a recent paper, Braun, Chung and Graham [1] have addressed a single-processor scheduling problem with time restrictions. Given a fixed integer $B \geq 2$, there is a set of jobs to be processed by a single processor subject to the…
The idea to find the "maximal number that can be named" can be traced back to Archimedes (see his Psammit). From the viewpoint of computation theory the natural question is "which number can be described by at most n bits"? This question…
We give small universal Turing machines with state-symbol pairs of (6, 2), (3, 3) and (2, 4). These machines are weakly universal, which means that they have an infinitely repeated word to the left of their input and another to the right.…
In the 1960's Gisbert Hasenjaeger built Turing Machines from electromechanical relays and uniselectors. Recently, Glaschick reverse engineered the program of one of these machines and found that it is a universal Turing machine. In fact,…
In the noisy query model, the (binary) return value of every query (possibly repeated) is independently flipped with some fixed probability $p \in (0, 1/2)$. In this paper, we obtain tight bounds on the noisy query complexity of several…
High-rate bivariate bicycle (BB) codes are promising low-overhead quantum memories, but their stabilizer checks typically have weight $6$ or higher, making syndrome extraction challenging. We introduce subsystem bivariate bicycle (SBB)…
Consider a short theorem, i.e. one that can be written down using just a few symbols. Can its shortest proof be arbitrarily long? We answer this question in the negative. Inspired by arguments by Calude et al (1999) and Chaitin (1984) that…
The binary value function, or BinVal, has appeared in several studies in theory of evolutionary computation as one of the extreme examples of linear pseudo-Boolean functions. Its unbiased black-box complexity was previously shown to be at…
There are several forms of irreducibility in computing systems, ranging from undecidability to intractability to nonlinearity. This paper is an exploration of the conceptual issues that have arisen in the course of investigating speed-up…
We consider computations of a Turing machine under noise that causes consecutive violations of the machine's transition function. Given a constant upper bound B on the size of bursts of faults, we construct a Turing machine M(B) subject to…
The upper limit on what is computable in our universe is unknown, but widely believed to be set by the Turing machine -- with a function being physically computable if and only if it is Turing-computable. I show how this apparently mild…
The 15 puzzle is a classic reconfiguration puzzle with fifteen uniquely labeled unit squares within a $4 \times 4$ board in which the goal is to slide the squares (without ever overlapping) into a target configuration. By generalizing the…
We consider fundamental scheduling problems motivated by energy issues. In this framework, we are given a set of jobs, each with a release time, deadline and required processing length. The jobs need to be scheduled on a machine so that at…
We consider the multiplicative complexity of Boolean functions with multiple bits of output, studying how large a multiplicative complexity is necessary and sufficient to provide a desired nonlinearity. For so-called $\Sigma\Pi\Sigma$…
Drawing on various notions from theoretical computer science, we present a novel numerical approach, motivated by the notion of algorithmic probability, to the problem of approximating the Kolmogorov-Chaitin complexity of short strings. The…
Wolfram [2, p. 707] and Cook [1, p. 3] claim to prove that a (2,5) Turing machine (2 states, 5 symbols) is universal, via a universal cellular automaton known as Rule 110. The first part of this paper points out a critical gap in their…