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Church’s thesis
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Numbers and Mathematics
Quick Facts
Also called:
Church’s Theorem
Key People:
Alonzo Church
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Church’s thesis

mathematics
Also known as: Church’s theorem, Church-Turing thesis
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History

Church’s thesis, a principle formulated by the 20th-century American logician Alonzo Church, stating that the recursive functions are the only functions that can be mechanically calculated. The theorem implies that the procedures of arithmetic cannot be used to decide the consistency of statements formulated in accordance with the laws of arithmetic.