# Max Dehn, Axel Thue, and the Undecidable

## TL;DR

This paper discusses the historical development of the word problem for groups and semigroups, highlighting the contributions of Max Dehn and Axel Thue in establishing its undecidability.

## Contribution

It provides a historical analysis of Dehn and Thue's roles in formulating and proving the undecidability of the word problem.

## Key findings

- Dehn's early work on the word problem for groups.
- Thue's contributions to semi-group theory and word problems.
- The proofs demonstrating the undecidability of the word problem.

## Abstract

This is a short essay on the roles of Max Dehn and Axel Thue in the formulation of the word problem for (semi)groups, and the story of the proofs showing that the word problem is undecidable.