Computability and Randomness
André Nies
Abstract
The complexity and the randomness aspect of a set of natural numbers are closely related. Traditionally, computability theory is concerned with the complexity aspect. However, computability theoretic tools can also be used to introduce mathematical counterparts for the intuitive notion of randomness of a set. Recent research shows that, conversely, concepts and methods originating from randomness enrich computability theory. The book is about these two aspects of sets of natural numbers and about their interplay. For the first aspect, lowness and highness properties of sets are introduced. For ... More
The complexity and the randomness aspect of a set of natural numbers are closely related. Traditionally, computability theory is concerned with the complexity aspect. However, computability theoretic tools can also be used to introduce mathematical counterparts for the intuitive notion of randomness of a set. Recent research shows that, conversely, concepts and methods originating from randomness enrich computability theory. The book is about these two aspects of sets of natural numbers and about their interplay. For the first aspect, lowness and highness properties of sets are introduced. For the second aspect, firstly randomness of finite objects are studied, and then randomness of sets of natural numbers. A hierarchy of mathematical randomness notions is established. Each notion matches the intuition idea of randomness to some extent. The advantages and drawbacks of notions weaker and stronger than Martin-Löf randomness are discussed. The main topic is the interplay of the computability and randomness aspects. Research on this interplay has advanced rapidly in recent years. One chapter focuses on injury-free solutions to Post's problem. A core chapter contains a comprehensible treatment of lowness properties below the halting problem, and how they relate to K triviality. Each chapter exposes how the complexity properties are related to randomness. The book also contains analogs in the area of higher computability theory of results from the preceding chapters, reflecting very recent research.
Keywords:
lowness properties,
highness properties,
Kolmogorov complexity,
betting strategies,
higher computability
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2009 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199230761 |
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2009 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199230761.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
André Nies, author
Senior Lecturer, Department of Computer Science, The University of Aukland
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