The Undecidable Problem in Computability Theory
In computability theory, the halting problem is a decision problem which can be stated as follows:
- Given the description of an arbitrary program and a finite input, decide whether the program finishes running or will run forever.
Alan Turing proved in 1936 that a general algorithm running on a Turing machine that solves the halting problem for all possible program-input pairs necessarily cannot exist. Hence, the halting problem is undecidable for Turing machines.
Read more about this topic: Undecidable Problem
Famous quotes containing the words problem and/or theory:
“War is not a life: it is a situation,
One which may neither be ignored nor accepted,
A problem to be met with ambush and stratagem,
Enveloped or scattered.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“PsychotherapyThe theory that the patient will probably get well anyway, and is certainly a damned ijjit.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
Related Phrases
Related Words