Weakly computable real numbers (Q5925970)

The authors look at Cauchy sequences converging to real numbers and their effectiveness. If one has a computable sequence of rationals monotonically increasing to a real \(\alpha\) then the real is called left computable (or elsewhere, computably enumerable), (and similarly right computable). The real may not be computable as there is no guaranteed effective convergence ratio. If the sequence is not monotone then the real which is its limit is \(\Delta^0_2\). The authors show that if we define a real to be d.c.e. when it is the arithmetic difference of two left computable reals, then this set forms a field, and hence the ``difference hierarchy'' for reals stops at two. It is also shown that the class of left or right computable reals, the class of d.c.e. reals, and the class of \(\Delta^0_2\) reals are all distinct. In a later paper (Proceedings COCOON'01) functions based on the field of d.c.e reals are examined.