Lower bounds on $\beta(\alpha)$ and other properties of $\alpha$-ITRMs

TL;DR

This paper investigates the computational power of transfinite machine models called $oldsymbol{eta(oldsymbol{ extalpha})}$-ITRMs, establishing lower bounds, refuting conjectures, and exploring their properties across different transfinite contexts.

Contribution

It provides new lower bounds on $oldsymbol{eta(oldsymbol{ extalpha})}$-ITRMs, refutes a prior conjecture, and analyzes their properties related to cardinal recognition and halting problems.

Findings

Lower bounds on $oldsymbol{eta(oldsymbol{ extalpha})}$-ITRMs' strength for certain $oldsymbol{ extalpha}$ values

Refutation of a conjecture about $oldsymbol{eta(oldsymbol{ extalpha})}$-ITRMs' computational strength

Equivalence of cardinal-recognizing ITRMs' strength to standard ITRMs

Abstract

This paper extends our paper \cite{C2} for the conference ``Computability in Europe'' 2022. After Infinite Time Turing Machines (ITTM) were introduced in Hamkins and Lewis \cite{HL}, a number of machine models of computability have been generalized to the transfinite, along with various variants thereof. While for some of these models the computational strength has been successfully determined, there are still several white spots on the map of transfinite computability. In this paper, we contribute to the understanding of the computational strength of transfinite machine models by (i) proving lower bounds on the computational strength of $\alpha$-Infinite Time Register Machines ($\alpha$-ITRMs) for certain values of $\alpha$, refuting a conjecture about their strength made in \cite{alpha itrms}, (ii) showing that the computational strength of cardinal-recognizing ITRMs is equal to that of ITRMs and (iii) showing that non-solvability of the bounded halting problem, existence of a universal machine and an increase of computational power by allowing machines to recognize cardinals are equivalent for $\alpha$-ITRMs for all relevant values of $\alpha$ .