Structure (mathematical Logic)
In universal algebra and in model theory, a structure consists of a set along with a collection of finitary operations, and relations that are defined on it.
Universal algebra studies structures that generalize the algebraic structures such as groups, rings, fields and vector spaces. The term universal algebra is used for structures with no relation symbols.
Model theory has a different scope that encompasses more arbitrary theories, including foundational structures such as models of set theory. From the model-theoretic point of view, structures are the objects used to define the semantics of first-order logic. For a given theory in model theory, a structure is called model, if it satisfies the defining axioms of that theory, although it is sometimes disambiguated as a semantic model when one discusses the notion in the more general setting of mathematical models. Logicians sometimes refer to structures as interpretations.
In database theory, structures with no functions are studied as models for relational databases, in the form of relational models.
Read more about Structure (mathematical Logic): Definition, Induced Substructures and Closed Subsets, Structures and First-order Logic, Many-sorted Structures
Famous quotes containing the word structure:
“The structure was designed by an old sea captain who believed that the world would end in a flood. He built a home in the traditional shape of the Ark, inverted, with the roof forming the hull of the proposed vessel. The builder expected that the deluge would cause the house to topple and then reverse itself, floating away on its roof until it should land on some new Ararat.”
—For the State of New Jersey, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)