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On Primitive Recursive Algorithms And The Greatest Common Divisor Function
, 2003
"... We establish linear lower bounds for the complexity of non-trivial, primitive recursive algorithms from piecewise linear given functions. The main corollary is that logtime algorithms for the greatest common divisor from such givens (such as Stein's) cannot be matched in e#ciency by primitive recurs ..."
Abstract
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We establish linear lower bounds for the complexity of non-trivial, primitive recursive algorithms from piecewise linear given functions. The main corollary is that logtime algorithms for the greatest common divisor from such givens (such as Stein's) cannot be matched in e#ciency by primitive recursive algorithms from the same given functions. The question is left open for the Euclidean algorithm, which assumes the remainder function. In 1991, Colson [3] proved a remarkable theorem about the limitations of primitive recursive algorithms, which has the following consequence: Colson's Corollary. If a primitive recursive derivation of min(x, y) is expressed faithfully in a programming language, then one of the two computations min(1, 1000) and min(1000, 1) will take at least 1000 steps.
