Computability And Recursion (1996)
Cached
Download Links
| Venue: | BULLETIN OF SYMBOLIC LOGIC |
| Citations: | 44 - 1 self |
BibTeX
@ARTICLE{Soare96computabilityand,
author = {Robert I. Soare},
title = {Computability And Recursion},
journal = {BULLETIN OF SYMBOLIC LOGIC},
year = {1996},
volume = {2},
number = {3},
pages = {284--321}
}
Share
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
OpenURL
Abstract
We consider the informal concept of "computability" or "effective calculability" andtwo of the formalisms commonly used to define it, "(Turing) computability" and "(general) recursiveness". We consider their origin, exact technical definition, concepts, history, general English meanings, how they became fixed in their present roles, how they were first and are now used, their impact on nonspecialists, how their use will affect the future content of the subject of computability theory, and its connection to other related areas. After a careful historical and conceptual analysis of computability and recursion we make several recommendations in section 7 about preserving the intensional di#erences between the concepts of "computability" and "recursion." Specifically we recommend that: the term "recursive" should no longer carry the additional meaning of "computable" or "decidable;" functions defined using Turing machines, register machines, or their variants should be calle...
Keyphrases
informal concept register machine general english meaning computability theory future content present role related area exact technical definition term recursive intensional di erences several recommendation effective calculability andtwo additional meaning turing machine conceptual analysis
