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COMP 4036 Computability

This document discusses computability and partial functions. It introduces the concept that not all functions are computable by a Turing machine. It provides examples of computable and non-computable functions, including the halting problem which cannot be solved algorithmically. The document also discusses how programming languages are constrained by computability limits but are still Turing complete, allowing them to compute any partial recursive function.

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Marko Schuetz
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
81 views

COMP 4036 Computability

This document discusses computability and partial functions. It introduces the concept that not all functions are computable by a Turing machine. It provides examples of computable and non-computable functions, including the halting problem which cannot be solved algorithmically. The document also discusses how programming languages are constrained by computability limits but are still Turing complete, allowing them to compute any partial recursive function.

Uploaded by

Marko Schuetz
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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COMP 4036

Computability
Overview
· not all functions are computable

· (almost) all programming languages are suitable to ex-


press all computable functions

· computability limits power of programming languages in


general
Partial Functions & Computability
?
· program ≡ function from inputs to outputs

· theory and practice...


Expressions and Values
· What is the value of 3 + 2, 232, sin(π), 3/0?

· computation: error termination; nontermination

· examples: error termination 3/0; nontermination ...


Nontermination
f(x:int) = if x = 0 then 0 else x + f(x - 2)

f(4) =?
f(5) =?
Nontermination
f(x:int) = if x = 0 then 0 else x + f(x - 2)

f(4) = 4 + f(2) = 4 + 2 + f(0) = 4 + 2 + 0


f(5) = 5 + f(3) = 5 + 3 + f(1) = 5 + 3 + 1 + f(-1) =
...

=⇒ partial
Partial Functions
· functions in programming differ from functions in math:
partial vs. total

· total function: takes every element from its domain to a


unique element in its range

· partial function: may not map some of its domain ele-


ments (“undefined”)
Programs and Partial Functions
· recursion, loops, . . . → possible nontermination

· example: f(x:int) = if x = 0 then 0 else x + f(x


- 2)

· x ≥ 0 and x is even: terminates with a value


x < 0 or x is odd: computation can go on forever without
giving a result

Note g(x:nonnegeven) = if x = 0 then 0 else x + g(x


- 2) is a total function. g(-1) or g(5) are illegal expres-
sions → type checker
Computability
· computable?

− f : N → N. f (x) = 3x

− g : N → N. g(x) = x

true if the tooth fairy exists


n
− h : B. h =
false otherwise
− k : N → N. k(x) = the first 10x digits of π

· computable: there is a program that computes it


Computability as Criterion
· programming languages differ

Can we implement something in one programming lan-


guage but not in another?

· Church’s Thesis

All computing devices can compute exactly the partial


recursive functions.

· Characterizations of partial recursive functions, e.g.:

− Turing machines

− Lambda calculus (details later)

· (almost) all programming languages are Turing complete


Turing Machine
· very primitive computational model, here: multi--tape

· k tapes, infinite to one side, divided into cells

· tape symbols

· read--/write--head per tape on exactly one cell

· finite control, state

· computation step:

1. state change

2. replace symbols under heads

3. move heads (per tape L, R, S)


Turing Machines more formal
A Turing machine M is defined by:

M = (Q, T, I, δ, b, q0, qf )

where

Q set of states

T set of tape symbols

I set of input symbols I ⊆ T

δ state--transition function Q×T k → Q×(T ×{L, R, S})k

b blank

q0 initial state
qf final state

· configuration: (α1, . . . , αk ) for k tapes, where αi = xiqyi

· computation step: `
Computing Functions with TMs
· input encodes arguments: e.g. x1#x2# . . . #xn#

· one tape is a “result tape”: e.g. the kth

· TM stops with y on tape k: TM computes f (x1, x2, . . . , xn) =


y
Non--Computable Functions
· Are there “interesting” functions that we cannot com-
pute?

· Yes! → e.g. Halting Problem


Halting Problem
· given: program text T , string S

· wanted: Answer to the question “Will T terminate when


run on input S?”

· no program can solve the Halting Problem


Non--Computability of the Halting
Problem
· Halting Problem as function:

true if T halts when run on input S


n
fHalt(T, S) =
false otherwise

· assume program Q computes fHalt

· construct program D as:

D(T) = if Q(T,T) then run forever else halt

· does D(D) halt?


Applications
· recursion, loops

while (...) {
...
}
... remaining program ...

or

let f(x:int) = if x = 0 then 0 else x + f(x - 2)


in g(f(3))

· checking of precise types: e.g. this program uses the first


3 characters of its string input

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