Church's Thesis (constructive Mathematics)

Church's Thesis (constructive Mathematics)

In constructive mathematics, Church's thesis (CT) is an axiom which states that all total functions are computable. The axiom takes its name from the Church–Turing thesis, which states that every effectively calculable function is computable function, but the constructivist version is much stronger, claiming that every function is computable.

The axiom CT is incompatible with classical logic in sufficiently strong systems. For example, Heyting arithmetic (HA) with CT as an addition axiom is able to disprove some instances of the law of the excluded middle. However, Heyting arithmetic is equiconsistent with Peano arithmetic (PA) as well as with Heyting arithmetic plus Church's thesis. That is, adding either the law of the excluded middle or Church's thesis does not make Heyting arithmetic inconsistent, but adding both does.

Read more about Church's Thesis (constructive Mathematics):  Formal Statement, Relationship To Classical Logic, Extended Church's Thesis

Famous quotes containing the words church and/or thesis:

    It is an evil world. The fires of hatred and violence burn fiercely. Evil is powerful, the devil covers a darkened earth with his black wings. And soon the end of the world is expected. But mankind does not repent, the church struggles, and the preachers and poets warn and lament in vain.
    Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)

    I was now at a university in New York, a professor of existential psychology with the not inconsiderable thesis that magic, dread, and the perception of death were the roots of motivation.
    Norman Mailer (b. 1923)