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Computation

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331:. It states that physical computing systems are types of mechanisms that, by design, perform physical computation, or the manipulation (by a functional mechanism) of a "medium-independent" vehicle according to a rule. "Medium-independence" requires that the property can be instantiated by multiple realizers and multiple mechanisms, and that the inputs and outputs of the mechanism also be 294:
summary of this account states that a physical system can be said to perform a specific computation when there is a mapping between the state of that system and the computation such that the "microphysical states mirror the state transitions between the computational states."
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content be a necessary condition for computation (that is, what differentiates an arbitrary physical system from a computing system is that the operands of the computation represent something). This notion attempts to prevent the logical abstraction of the mapping account of
335:. In short, medium-independence allows for the use of physical variables with properties other than voltage (as in typical digital computers); this is imperative in considering other types of computation, such as that which occurs in the 245: 83:, but agreement on a suitable definition proved elusive. A candidate definition was proposed independently by several mathematicians in the 1930s. The best-known variant was formalised by the mathematician 488: 418:
with discrete time and discrete state space. He maintains that a computational system is a complex object which consists of three parts. First, a mathematical dynamical system
156:. It remains an open question as to whether there exists a more powerful definition of 'well-defined' that is able to capture both computable and 'non-computable' statements. 571: 148:
Despite the widespread uptake of this definition, there are some mathematical concepts that have no well-defined characterisation under this definition. This includes
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Calculations or statements which are ill-defined, such that they cannot be unambiguously encoded into a Turing machine: ("Paul loves me twice as much as Joe").
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Problem statements which do appear to be well-defined, but for which it can be proved that no Turing machine exists to solve them (such as
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Turing's definition apportioned "well-definedness" to a very large class of mathematical statements, including all well-formed
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The notion that mathematical statements should be 'well-defined' had been argued by mathematicians since at least the
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Today, any formal statement or calculation that exhibits this quality of well-definedness is termed
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The majority of mathematical statements and calculations given in maths textbooks.
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Computation can be seen as a purely physical process occurring inside a closed
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Davis, Martin (2006). "Why there is no such discipline as hypercomputation".
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with discrete time and discrete state space; second, a computational setup
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have suggested various accounts of computation with the restriction that
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Godfrey-Smith, P. (2009), "Triviality Arguments against Functionalism",
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All statements characterised in modern programming languages, including
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An alternative account of computation is found throughout the works of
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On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem
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Some examples of mathematical statements that are computable include:
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that is well-defined. Common examples of computation are
91:. Other (mathematically equivalent) definitions include 702:"Computation: Definition and Synonyms from Answers.com" 664:
The study of non-computable statements is the field of
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Giunti calls the models studied by computation theory
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la Logique de Leibniz a'Après des Documents Inédits
71:is a field that involves the study of computation. 608: 588: 565: 529: 502: 482: 433: 211:Some examples of mathematical statements that are 61:, people) that perform computations are known as 414:and he argues that all of them are mathematical 976:. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 10. 932:. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 18. 257:, human mathematicians following strict rules, 953:Fodor, J. A. (1986), "The Mind-Body Problem", 818:Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society 290:has dubbed this the "simple mapping account." 8: 327:proposes an account of computation based on 974:Physical Computation: A Mechanistic Account 930:Physical Computation: A Mechanistic Account 178:All calculations carried by an electronic 601: 578: 548: 542: 521: 515: 495: 490:, which is made up of a theoretical part 469: 446: 423: 253:. Examples of such physical systems are: 842:Davis, Martin; Davis, Martin D. (2000). 756:Davis, Martin; Davis, Martin D. (2000). 691:from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary 779: 777: 681: 657: 483:{\displaystyle H=\left(F,B_{F}\right)} 57:Mechanical or electronic devices (or, 1001:. New York: Oxford University Press. 7: 999:Computation, Dynamics, and Cognition 820:. 2. Vol. 42. pp. 230–65. 869:Applied Mathematics and Computation 573:, which links the dynamical system 273:Alternative accounts of computation 231:The Physical process of computation 193:All calculations carried out on an 200:All calculations carried out on a 25: 786:Computability & Unsolvability 846:. W. W. Norton & Company. 760:. W. W. Norton & Company. 1: 972:Piccinini, Gualtiero (2015). 928:Piccinini, Gualtiero (2015). 1059:Theoretical computer science 784:Davis, Martin (1982-01-01). 399:Concurrent models including 387:Functional models including 537:; third, an interpretation 1080: 1028:Isonomia -- Epistemologica 350: 908:10.1007/s11098-008-9231-3 881:10.1016/j.amc.2005.09.066 393:Logical models including 826:10.1112/plms/s2-42.1.230 731:Couturat, Louis (1901). 566:{\displaystyle I_{DS,H}} 788:. Courier Corporation. 369:State models including 320:The mechanistic account 243:. Turing's 1937 proof, 27:Any type of calculation 1022:Giunti, Marco (2017), 997:Giunti, Marco (1997). 844:The Universal Computer 809:Turing, A.M. (1937) . 758:The Universal Computer 610: 590: 567: 531: 504: 484: 435: 412:computational systems, 379:finite state automaton 896:Philosophical Studies 641:Limits of computation 636:Computational problem 611: 591: 568: 532: 530:{\displaystyle B_{F}} 505: 485: 436: 359:theory of computation 329:mechanical philosophy 303:Philosophers such as 292:Gualtiero Piccinini's 116:general recursiveness 44:mathematical equation 1064:Computability theory 626:Computability theory 600: 577: 541: 514: 494: 445: 422: 353:Model of computation 299:The semantic account 263:mechanical computers 215:computable include: 154:the busy beaver game 143:algebraic statements 955:Scientific American 712:on 22 February 2009 365:are the following: 363:models of computers 347:Mathematical models 333:multiply realizable 325:Gualtiero Piccinini 314:pancomputationalism 288:Peter Godfrey-Smith 278:The mapping account 224:the halting problem 150:the halting problem 98:lambda-definability 606: 589:{\displaystyle DS} 586: 563: 527: 510:, and a real part 500: 480: 434:{\displaystyle DS} 431: 375:pushdown automaton 38:or non-arithmetic 1008:978-0-19-509009-3 853:978-0-393-04785-1 795:978-0-486-61471-7 767:978-0-393-04785-1 609:{\displaystyle H} 503:{\displaystyle F} 416:dynamical systems 395:logic programming 259:digital computers 195:analytical engine 16:(Redirected from 1071: 1043: 1042: 1019: 1013: 1012: 994: 988: 987: 969: 963: 962: 950: 944: 943: 925: 919: 918: 891: 885: 884: 864: 858: 857: 839: 830: 829: 815: 806: 800: 799: 781: 772: 771: 753: 747: 746: 728: 722: 721: 719: 717: 708:. 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Index

Computational
arithmetic
calculation
mathematical equation
execution
algorithms
historically
computers
Computer science
1600s
Alan Turing
Turing machine
Alonzo Church
lambda-definability
Herbrand
Gödel
Kleene
general recursiveness
Emil Post
algebraic statements
the halting problem
the busy beaver game
C++
Python
Java
computer
calculator
abacus
analytical engine
Turing Machine

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