Browsing by Author "Amaury, Pouly"
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- On the functions generated by the general purpose analog computerPublication . Olivier, Bournez; Graça, Daniel; Amaury, PoulyWe consider the General Purpose Analog Computer (GPAC), introduced by Claude Shannon in 1941 as a mathematical model of Differential Analysers, that is to say as a model of continuous-time analog (mechanical, and later one electronic) machines of that time. The GPAC generates as output univariate functions (i.e. functions f:R→R). In this paper we extend this model by: (i) allowing multivariate functions (i.e. functions f:Rn→Rm); (ii) introducing a notion of amount of resources (space) needed to generate a function, which allows the stratification of GPAC generable functions into proper subclasses. We also prove that a wide class of (continuous and discontinuous) functions can be uniformly approximated over their full domain. We prove a few stability properties of this model, mostly stability by arithmetic operations, composition and ODE solving, taking into account the amount of resources needed to perform each operation. We establish that generable functions are always analytic but that they can nonetheless (uniformly) approximate a wide range of nonanalytic functions. Our model and results extend some of the results from [19] to the multidimensional case, allow one to define classes of functions generated by GPACs which take into account bounded resources, and also strengthen the approximation result from [19] over a compact domain to a uniform approximation result over unbounded domains.
- Polynomial time corresponds to solutions of polynomial ordinary differential equations of polynomial lengthPublication . Olivier, Bournez; Daniel, Graça; Amaury, PoulyThe outcomes of this article are twofold. Implicit complexity. We provide an implicit characterization of polynomial time computation in terms of ordinary differential equations: we characterize the class P of languages computable in polynomial time in terms of differential equations with polynomial right-hand side. This result gives a purely continuous elegant and simple characterization of P. We believe it is the first time complexity classes are characterized using only ordinary differential equations. Our characterization extends to functions computable in polynomial time over the reals in the sense of Computable Analysis. Our results may provide a new perspective on classical complexity, by giving a way to define complexity classes, like P, in a very simple way, without any reference to a notion of (discrete) machine. This may also provide ways to state classical questions about computational complexity via ordinary differential equations. Continuous-Time Models of Computation. Our results can also be interpreted in terms of analog computers or analog models of computation: As a side effect, we get that the 1941 General Purpose Analog Computer (GPAC) of Claude Shannon is provably equivalent to Turing machines both in terms of computability and complexity, a fact that has never been established before. This result provides arguments in favour of a generalised form of the Church-Turing Hypothesis, which states that any physically realistic (macroscopic) computer is equivalent to Turing machines both in terms of computability and complexity.