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In mathematics and mathematical logic, Boolean algebra is a branch of algebra.It differs from elementary algebra in two ways. First, the values of the variables are the truth values true and false, usually denoted 1 and 0, whereas in elementary algebra the values of the variables are numbers.
Algebraic structures occur as both discrete examples and continuous examples. Discrete algebras include: Boolean algebra used in logic gates and programming; relational algebra used in databases; discrete and finite versions of groups, rings and fields are important in algebraic coding theory; discrete semigroups and monoids appear in the ...
The term "Boolean algebra" honors George Boole (1815–1864), a self-educated English mathematician. He introduced the algebraic system initially in a small pamphlet, The Mathematical Analysis of Logic, published in 1847 in response to an ongoing public controversy between Augustus De Morgan and William Hamilton, and later as a more substantial book, The Laws of Thought, published in 1854.
In mathematics, a Boolean function is a function whose arguments and result assume values from a two-element set (usually {true, false}, {0,1} or {-1,1}). [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Alternative names are switching function , used especially in older computer science literature, [ 3 ] [ 4 ] and truth function (or logical function) , used in logic .
Boolean algebra is a mathematically rich branch of abstract algebra. Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy defines Boolean algebra as 'the algebra of two-valued logic with only sentential connectives, or equivalently of algebras of sets under union and complementation.' [1] Just as group theory deals with groups, and linear algebra with vector spaces, Boolean algebras are models of the ...
Using the laws of Boolean algebra, every propositional logic formula can be transformed into an equivalent conjunctive normal form, which may, however, be exponentially longer. For example, transforming the formula (x 1 ∧y 1) ∨ (x 2 ∧y 2) ∨ ... ∨ (x n ∧y n) into conjunctive normal form yields (x 1 ∨ x 2 ∨ … ∨ x n) ∧
Each logic operator can be used in an assertion about variables and operations, showing a basic rule of inference. Examples: The column-14 operator (OR), shows Addition rule: when p=T (the hypothesis selects the first two lines of the table), we see (at column-14) that p∨q=T.
Another example of a Boolean algebra that is not complete is the Boolean algebra P(ω) of all sets of natural numbers, quotiented out by the ideal Fin of finite subsets. The resulting object, denoted P(ω)/Fin, consists of all equivalence classes of sets of naturals, where the relevant equivalence relation is that two sets of naturals are ...