Related papers: When are two algorithms the same? Towards addressi…
The proof identity problem asks: When are two proofs the same? The question naturally occurs when one reflects on mathematical practice. The problem understandably can be seen as a challenge for mathematical logic, and indeed various…
People usually regard algorithms as more abstract than the programs that implement them. The natural way to formalize this idea is that algorithms are equivalence classes of programs with respect to a suitable equivalence relation. We argue…
The study of computability has its origin in Hilbert's conference of 1900, where an adjacent question, to the ones he asked, is to give a precise description of the notion of algorithm. In the search for a good definition arose three…
In a recent provocative paper, Lamport points out "the insubstantiality of processes" by proving the equivalence of two different decompositions of the same intuitive algorithm by means of temporal formulas. We point out that the correct…
Hilbert's program was an ambitious and wide-ranging project in the philosophy and foundations of mathematics. In order to "dispose of the foundational questions in mathematics once and for all, "Hilbert proposed a two-pronged approach in…
Inspired by Quantum Mechanics, we reformulate Hilbert's tenth problem in the domain of integer arithmetics into problems involving either a set of infinitely-coupled non-linear differential equations or a class of linear Schr\"odinger…
The halting problem is undecidable --- but can it be solved for "most" inputs? This natural question was considered in a number of papers, in different settings. We revisit their results and show that most of them can be easily proven in a…
This paper discusses limitations of reflexive and diagonal arguments as methods of proof of limitative theorems (e.g. G\"odel's theorem on Entscheidungsproblem, Turing's halting problem or Chaitin-G\"odel's theorem). The fact, that a formal…
We study the decidability of the Skolem Problem, the Positivity Problem, and the Ultimate Positivity Problem for linear recurrences with real number initial values and real number coefficients in the bit-model of real computation. We show…
The need for formal definition of the very basis of mathematics arose in the last century. The scale and complexity of mathematics, along with discovered paradoxes, revealed the danger of accumulating errors across theories. Although,…
This work is meant to be a step towards the formal definition of the notion of algorithm, in the sense of an equivalence class of programs working "in a similar way". But instead of defining equivalence transformations directly on programs,…
It is well known that many theorems in recursion theory can be "relativized". This means that they remain true if partial recursive functions are replaced by functions that are partial recursive relative to some fixed oracle set. Uspensky…
We define an algorithm to be the set of programs that implement or express that algorithm. The set of all programs is partitioned into equivalence classes. Two programs are equivalent if they are essentially the same program. The set of…
They run our lives, if you believe the hype in the news, but there is no precise definition of "algorithms" which is generally accepted by the mathematicians, logicians and computer scientists who create and study them. My main aims here…
A central problem in proof-theory is that of finding criteria for identity of proofs, that is, for when two distinct formal derivations can be taken as denoting the same logical argument. In the literature one finds criteria which are…
When are two algorithms the same? How can we be sure a recently proposed algorithm is novel, and not a minor twist on an existing method? In this paper, we present a framework for reasoning about equivalence between a broad class of…
A hypothesis testing algorithm is replicable if, when run on two different samples from the same distribution, it produces the same output with high probability. This notion, defined by by Impagliazzo, Lei, Pitassi, and Sorell [STOC'22],…
The primary aim of Hilbert's proof theory was to establish the consistency of classical mathematics using finitary means only. Hilbert's strategy for doing this was to eliminate the infinite (in the form of unbounded quantifiers) from…
When are two algorithms the same? How can we be sure a recently proposed algorithm is novel, and not a minor variation on an existing method? In this paper, we present a framework for reasoning about equivalence between a broad class of…
Since many real-world problems arising in the fields of compiler optimisation, automated software engineering, formal proof systems, and so forth are equivalent to the Halting Problem--the most notorious undecidable problem--there is a…