MA201: MATHEMATICAL LOGIC AND THEORY OF COMPUTATION

Mathematics is about structure, about reasoning, and about modeling.  This course braids these three threads together.  Mathematical logic began as the study of the reasoning used in mathematics, but it turns out to be useful in describing the mathematical concept of structure and in modeling automated reasoning—that is, modeling computation.

The logical approach to structure gives an alternate perspective on such other mathematical subjects as combinatorics and abstract algebra.  This, for the most part, is described by the area of model theory, which is the focus of Unit 1.

In Unit 2, we will look at modeling computation.  The central fact of these models, from a logical standpoint, is that once we can handle a computation as a definable mathematical object, we can prove that certain computations are impossible.  The most famous such proof is Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem, showing that it is impossible to compute truth in a system sufficiently strong to describe natural number arithmetic.

Finally, in Unit 3, we turn to proof theory.  Just as modeling computations results in new insights, modeling the process of mathematical proof results in a surprising connection: a proof is analogous to a computation.

These three often interact.  Proofs and computations have natural parallels with the language we use to describe structures.  Structures from model theory give natural settings for computation, as in Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem.  After completing this course, you will understand all three.

Course Designer: Prof. Wesley Calvert

Primary Resources: This course is composed of a range of different free, online materials. However, the course makes primary use of the following materials:

• Università di Torino: Domenico Zambella’s A Crèchet Course in Model Theory
• Carleton University: Anil Maheshwari and Michiel Smid’s Introduction to the Theory of Computation
• Carnegie Mellon University: Jeremy Avigad’s Computability and Incompleteness
• Dalhousie University: Peter Selinger’s Lecture Notes on the Lambda Calculus

Requirements for Completion: In order to complete this course, you will need to work through each unit and all of its assigned materials.

In order to pass this course, you will need to earn a 70% or higher on the Final Exam. Your score on the exam will be tabulated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam, you may take it again.

Time Commitment: It should take you about 132 hours of work to complete this course. Each unit includes a “time advisory” that lists the amount of time you might expect to spend on each subunit. Since much of the time is spent working through exercises, you may use much more or much less, depending on your personal work style.