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Talk:Logical graph
MyWikiBiz, Author Your Legacy — Tuesday December 02, 2008
Contents |
[edit] Notes & Queries
- Jon Awbrey 20:20, 1 February 2008 (PST)
[edit] Place for Discussion

[edit] Logical Equivalence Problem
[edit] Problem
Problem posted by Mike1234 on the Discrete Math List at the Math Forum.
- Required to show that
is equivalent to
[edit] Solution
Solution posted by Jon Awbrey, working in the medium of logical graphs.
In logical graphs, the required equivalence looks like this:
q o o p q o
| | |
p o o q o o p
\ / | |
o p o o--o q
| \ /
@ = @
We have a theorem that says:
y o xy o
| |
x @ = x @
See Logical Graph : C2. Generation Theorem.
Applying this twice to the left hand side of the required equation, we get:
q o o p pq o o pq
| | | |
p o o q p o o q
\ / \ /
o o
| |
@ = @
By collection, the reverse of distribution, we get:
p q
o o
pq \ /
o o
\ /
@
But this is the same result that we get from one application of double negation to the right hand side of the required equation.
QED
[edit] Discussion
Back to the initial problem:
- Show that
is equivalent to
We can translate this into logical graphs by supposing that we have to express everything in terms of negation and conjunction, using parentheses for negation and simple concatenation for conjunction, thus:
The negation
is written
This corresponds to the logical graph:
x
o
|
O
The conjunction
is written
This corresponds to the logical graph:
x y
O
The conjunction
is written
This corresponds to the logical graph:
xyz
O
Etc.
In this form of representation, for historical reasons called the "existential interpretation" of logical graphs, we have the following expressions for basic logical operations:
The disjunction
is written
This corresponds to the logical graph:
x y
o o
\ /
o
|
O
The disjunction
is written
This corresponds to the logical graph:
x y z
o o o
\|/
o
|
O
Etc.
The implication
is written
which can be read "not
without
" if that helps to remember the form of expression.
This corresponds to the logical graph:
y o
|
x o
|
O
Thus, the equivalence
has to be written somewhat inefficiently as a conjunction of two implications:
This corresponds to the logical graph:
y o o x
| |
x o o y
\ /
O
Putting all the pieces together, the problem given amounts to proving the following equation, expressed in the forms of logical graphs and parenthetical parse strings, respectively:
- Show that
is equivalent to
q o o p q o
| | |
p o o q o o p
\ / | |
o p o o--o q
| \ /
O = O
( (p (q)) (q (p)) ) = (p ( (q) )) ((p)(q))
