
Crudely speaking, a real number is random iff it does not belong to any constructive set of measure 0. Randomness can be reformulated in terms of a (prefix-free) Kolmogorov complexity \(K(\alpha_{| n})\) of the initial segments of the real number \(\alpha\) (described as an infinite sequence of 0s and 1s): \(\alpha\) is random iff there exists a constant \(c\) such that for all \(n\), \(K(\alpha_{| n})\geq n-c\). Are all random numbers equally random in some sense? It is reasonable to say that a random number \(\alpha\) is ``less random'' than \(\beta\) (denoted \(\alpha\leq_K \beta\)) if \(K(\alpha_{| n})\leq K(\beta_{| n})+O(1)\). If \(\alpha\leq_K\beta\) and \(\beta\leq_K\alpha\), then \(\alpha\) and \(\beta\) are equally random; an equivalence class of equally random numbers is called a \(K\)-degree. The authors prove that there is no ``most random'' real number (in the sense of this definition), and that there are uncountably many \(K\)-degrees. They also show that there exists a random real number \(\alpha\) for which \(\limsup (K(\alpha_{| n})-K(\Omega_{| n}))=\infty\), where \(\Omega\) is Chaitin's random number -- the probability that a randomly selected Turing machine halts. They also formulate several interesting open problems: e.g., it is not even clear if it is possible for one random real number \(\alpha\) to be strictly less random than the other \(\beta\), i.e., \(\alpha\leq_K \beta\) and \(\beta\not\leq_K\alpha\).
Applications of computability and recursion theory, Logic, Kolmogorov complexity, random reals, Algorithmic information theory (Kolmogorov complexity, etc.)
Applications of computability and recursion theory, Logic, Kolmogorov complexity, random reals, Algorithmic information theory (Kolmogorov complexity, etc.)
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