It is shown how to restrict recursion on notation in all finite types so as to characterize the polynomial time computable functions. The restrictions are obtained by enriching the type structure with the formation of types !oe, and by adding linear concepts to the lambda calculus. 1 Introduction Recursion in all finite types was introduced by Hilbert [9] and later became known as the essential part of Godel's system T [8]. This system has long been viewed as a powerful scheme unsuitable for describing small complexity classes such as polynomial time. Simmons [16] showed that ramification can be used to characterize the primitive recursive functions by higher type recursion, and Leivant and Marion [14] showed that another form of ramification can be used to restrict higher type recursion to PSPACE. However, to characterize the much smaller class of polynomial-time computable functions by higher type recursion, it seems that an additional principle is required. By introducing linear...