Effective method

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In logic, mathematics and computer science, especially metalogic and computability theory, an effective method [1] or effective procedure is a procedure for solving a problem by any intuitively 'effective' means from a specific class. [2] An effective method is sometimes also called a mechanical method or procedure. [3]

Contents

Definition

The definition of an effective method involves more than the method itself. In order for a method to be called effective, it must be considered with respect to a class of problems. Because of this, one method may be effective with respect to one class of problems and not be effective with respect to a different class.

A method is formally called effective for a class of problems when it satisfies these criteria:

Optionally, it may also be required that the method never returns a result as if it were an answer when the method is applied to a problem from outside its class. Adding this requirement reduces the set of classes for which there is an effective method.

Algorithms

An effective method for calculating the values of a function is an algorithm. Functions for which an effective method exists are sometimes called effectively calculable.

Computable functions

Several independent efforts to give a formal characterization of effective calculability led to a variety of proposed definitions (general recursive functions, Turing machines, λ-calculus) that later were shown to be equivalent. The notion captured by these definitions is known as recursive or effective computability.

The Church–Turing thesis states that the two notions coincide: any number-theoretic function that is effectively calculable is recursively computable. As this is not a mathematical statement, it cannot be proven by a mathematical proof.[ citation needed ]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Hunter, Geoffrey, Metalogic: An Introduction to the Metatheory of Standard First-Order Logic, University of California Press, 1971
  2. ↑ Gandy, Robin (1980). "Church's Thesis and the Principles for Mechanisms". The Kleene Symposium. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  3. ↑ Copeland, B.J.; Copeland, Jack; Proudfoot, Diane (June 2000). "The Turing-Church Thesis". AlanTuring.net. Turing Archive for the History of Computing. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  4. ↑ The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, effective procedure


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