Author: Jon Awbrey
A differential propositional calculus is a propositional calculus extended by a set of terms for describing aspects of change and difference, for example, processes that take place in a universe of discourse or transformations that map a source universe into a target universe.
Casual Introduction
Consider the situation represented by the venn diagram in Figure 1.
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The area of the rectangle represents a universe of discourse,
This might be a population of individuals having various additional properties or it might be a collection of locations that various individuals occupy. The area of the “circle” represents the individuals that have the property
or the locations that fall within the corresponding region
Four individuals,
are singled out by name. It happens that
and
currently reside in region
while
and
do not.
Now consider the situation represented by the venn diagram in Figure 2.
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Figure 2 differs from Figure 1 solely in the circumstance that the object
is outside the region
while the object
is inside the region
So far, there is nothing that says that our encountering these Figures in this order is other than purely accidental, but if we interpret the present sequence of frames as a “moving picture” representation of their natural order in a temporal process, then it would be natural to say that
and
have remained as they were with regard to quality
while
and
have changed their standings in that respect. In particular,
has moved from the region where
is
to the region where
is
while
has moved from the region where
is
to the region where
is
Figure 3 reprises the situation shown in Figure 1, but this time interpolates a new quality that is specifically tailored to account for the relation between Figure 1 and Figure 2.
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This new quality,
is an example of a differential quality, since its absence or presence qualifies the absence or presence of change occurring in another quality. As with any other quality, it is represented in the venn diagram by means of a “circle” that distinguishes two halves of the universe of discourse, in this case, the portions of
outside and inside the region
Figure 1 represents a universe of discourse,
together with a basis of discussion,
for expressing propositions about the contents of that universe. Once the quality
is given a name, say, the symbol
we have the basis for a formal language that is specifically cut out for discussing
in terms of
and this formal language is more formally known as the propositional calculus with alphabet
In the context marked by
and
there are but four different pieces of information that can be expressed in the corresponding propositional calculus, namely, the propositions:
Referring to the sample of points in Figure 1, the constant proposition
holds of no points, the proposition
holds of
and
the proposition
holds of
and
and the constant proposition
holds of all points in the sample.
Figure 3 preserves the same universe of discourse and extends the basis of discussion to a set of two qualities,
In parallel fashion, the initial propositional calculus is extended by means of the enlarged alphabet,
Any propositional calculus over two basic propositions allows for the expression of 16 propositions all together. Just by way of salient examples in the present setting, we can pick out the most informative propositions that apply to each of our sample points. Using overlines to express logical negation, these are given as follows:
Table 4 exhibits the rules of inference that give the differential quality
its meaning in practice.
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Cactus Calculus
Table 5 outlines a syntax for propositional calculus based on two types of logical connectives, both of variable
-ary scope.
- A bracketed list of propositional expressions in the form
indicates that exactly one of the propositions
is false.
- A concatenation of propositional expressions in the form
indicates that all of the propositions
are true, in other words, that their logical conjunction is true.
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All other propositional connectives can be obtained through combinations of these two forms. Strictly speaking, the concatenation form is dispensable in light of the bracket form, but it is convenient to maintain it as an abbreviation for more complicated bracket expressions. While working with expressions solely in propositional calculus, it is easiest to use plain parentheses for logical connectives. In contexts where parentheses are needed for other purposes “teletype” parentheses
or barred parentheses
may be used for logical operators.
The briefest expression for logical truth is the empty word, abstractly denoted
or
in formal languages, where it forms the identity element for concatenation. It may be given visible expression in this context by means of the logically equivalent form
or, especially if operating in an algebraic context, by a simple
Also when working in an algebraic mode, the plus sign
may be used for exclusive disjunction. For example, we have the following paraphrases of algebraic expressions:
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It is important to note that the last expressions are not equivalent to the triple bracket
For more information about this syntax for propositional calculus, see the entries on minimal negation operators, zeroth order logic, and Table A1 in Appendix 1.
Formal Development
The preceding discussion outlined the ideas leading to the differential extension of propositional logic. The next task is to lay out the concepts and terminology that are needed to describe various orders of differential propositional calculi.
Elementary Notions
Logical description of a universe of discourse begins with a set of logical signs. For the sake of simplicity in a first approach, assume that these logical signs are collected in the form of a finite alphabet,
Each of these signs is interpreted as denoting a logical feature, for instance, a property that objects in the universe of discourse may have or a proposition about objects in the universe of discourse. Corresponding to the alphabet
there is then a set of logical features,
A set of logical features,
affords a basis for generating an
-dimensional universe of discourse, written
It is useful to consider a universe of discourse as a categorical object that incorporates both the set of points
and the set of propositions
that are implicit with the ordinary picture of a venn diagram on
features. Accordingly, the universe of discourse
may be regarded as an ordered pair
having the type
and this last type designation may be abbreviated as
or even more succinctly as
For convenience, the data type of a finite set on
elements may be indicated by either one of the equivalent notations,
or
Table 6 summarizes the notations that are needed to describe ordinary propositional calculi in a systematic fashion.
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Special Classes of Propositions
A basic proposition, coordinate proposition, or simple proposition in the universe of discourse
is one of the propositions in the set
Among the
propositions in
are several families of
propositions each that take on special forms with respect to the basis
Three of these families are especially prominent in the present context, the linear, the positive, and the singular propositions. Each family is naturally parameterized by the coordinate
-tuples in
and falls into
ranks, with a binomial coefficient
giving the number of propositions that have rank or weight
-
The linear propositions,
may be written as sums:
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The positive propositions,
may be written as products:
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The singular propositions,
may be written as products:
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In each case the rank
ranges from
to
and counts the number of positive appearances of the coordinate propositions
in the resulting expression. For example, for
the linear proposition of rank
is
the positive proposition of rank
is
and the singular proposition of rank
is
The basic propositions
are both linear and positive. So these two kinds of propositions, the linear and the positive, may be viewed as two different ways of generalizing the class of basic propositions.
Finally, it is important to note that all of the above distinctions are relative to the choice of a particular logical basis
For example, a singular proposition with respect to the basis
will not remain singular if
is extended by a number of new and independent features. Even if one keeps to the original set of pairwise options
to pick out a new basis, the sets of linear propositions and positive propositions are both determined by the choice of basic propositions, and this whole determination is tantamount to the purely conventional choice of a cell as origin.
Differential Extensions
An initial universe of discourse,
supplies the groundwork for any number of further extensions, beginning with the first order differential extension,
The construction of
can be described in the following stages:
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The initial alphabet,
is extended by a first order differential alphabet,
resulting in a first order extended alphabet,
defined as follows:
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The initial basis,
is extended by a first order differential basis,
resulting in a first order extended basis,
defined as follows:
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The initial space,
is extended by a first order differential space or tangent space,
at each point of
resulting in a first order extended space or tangent bundle space,
defined as follows:
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Finally, the initial universe,
is extended by a first order differential universe or tangent universe,
at each point of
resulting in a first order extended universe or tangent bundle universe,
defined as follows:
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This gives
the type:
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A proposition in a differential extension of a universe of discourse is called a differential proposition and forms the analogue of a system of differential equations in ordinary calculus. With these constructions, the first order extended universe
and the first order differential proposition
we have arrived, in concept at least, at the foothills of differential logic.
Table 7 summarizes the notations that are needed to describe the first order differential extensions of propositional calculi in a systematic manner.
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…
Appendices
Appendix 1. Propositional Forms and Differential Expansions
Table A1. Propositional Forms on Two Variables
Table A2. Propositional Forms on Two Variables
Table A3. Ef Expanded Over Differential Features
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Table A4. Df Expanded Over Differential Features
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Table A5. Ef Expanded Over Ordinary Features
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Table A6. Df Expanded Over Ordinary Features
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Appendix 2. Differential Forms
The actions of the difference operator
and the tangent operator
on the 16 bivariate propositions are shown in Tables A7 and A8.
Table A7 expands the differential forms that result over a logical basis:
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This set consists of the singular propositions in the first order differential variables, indicating mutually exclusive and exhaustive cells of the tangent universe of discourse. Accordingly, this set of differential propositions may also be referred to as the cell-basis, point-basis, or singular differential basis. In this setting it is frequently convenient to use the following abbreviations:
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Table A8 expands the differential forms that result over an algebraic basis:
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This set consists of the positive propositions in the first order differential variables, indicating overlapping positive regions of the tangent universe of discourse. Accordingly, this set of differential propositions may also be referred to as the positive differential basis.
Table A7. Differential Forms Expanded on a Logical Basis
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Table A8. Differential Forms Expanded on an Algebraic Basis
Table A9. Tangent Proposition as Pointwise Linear Approximation
Table A10. Taylor Series Expansion Df = df + d2f
Table A11. Partial Differentials and Relative Differentials
Table A12. Detail of Calculation for the Difference Map
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Appendix 3. Computational Details
Operator Maps for the Logical Conjunction f8(u, v)
Computation of εf8
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Computation of Ef8
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Computation of Df8
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Computation of df8
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Computation of rf8
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Computation Summary for Conjunction
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Operator Maps for the Logical Equality f9(u, v)
Computation of εf9
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Computation of Ef9
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Computation of Df9
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Computation of df9
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Computation of rf9
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Computation Summary for Equality
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Operator Maps for the Logical Implication f11(u, v)
Computation of εf11
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Computation of Ef11
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Computation of Df11
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Computation of df11
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Computation of rf11
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Computation Summary for Implication
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Operator Maps for the Logical Disjunction f14(u, v)
Computation of εf14
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Computation of Ef14
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Computation of Df14
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Computation of df14
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Computation of rf14
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Computation Summary for Disjunction
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Appendix 4. Source Materials
Appendix 5. Various Definitions of the Tangent Vector
References
- Ashby, William Ross (1956/1964), An Introduction to Cybernetics, Chapman and Hall, London, UK, 1956. Reprinted, Methuen and Company, London, UK, 1964.
- Awbrey, J., and Awbrey, S. (1989), "Theme One : A Program of Inquiry", Unpublished Manuscript, 09 Aug 1989. Microsoft Word Document.
- Edelman, Gerald M. (1988), Topobiology : An Introduction to Molecular Embryology, Basic Books, New York, NY.
- Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, Freiherr von, Theodicy : Essays on the Goodness of God, The Freedom of Man, and The Origin of Evil, Austin Farrer (ed.), E.M. Huggard (trans.), based on C.J. Gerhardt (ed.), Collected Philosophical Works, 1875–1890, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, UK, 1951. Reprinted, Open Court, La Salle, IL, 1985.
- McClelland, James L., and Rumelhart, David E. (1988), Explorations in Parallel Distributed Processing : A Handbook of Models, Programs, and Exercises, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.