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The Universal Computer
book

The Universal Computer

by Martin Davis
December 2011
Beginner
240 pages
6h 45m
English
CRC Press
Content preview from The Universal Computer
Unsolvable Problems
But wait! Here is a stubborn person who remains unconvinced. We listen in
on a conversation between the Stubborn Person (SP) and the Omniscient
Author (OA):
SP: I didn’t quite follow that reasoning, but in any case I know that I can
construct a Turing machine whose halting set is D. In fact (showing
us a piece of paper) here it is.
OA: I see. Would you kindly calculate the code number of your machine.
SP: Gladly! Let me see. The number is
998038646855861692977......7792985286468558616929
(showing us some enormous number).
OA: OK. And is this number in the halting set of your machine?
SP: Wait! I must work this out. No. No. It’s not in my machine’s halting
set.
OA: Now listen you Stubborn Person! If this number is not in your ma-
chine’s ...
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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781466505209