Glossary for the Zany Zoo

Glossary (under construction)

NameContextMeaning
addictive adder-- --
busy beaverfunctionlargest number of 1's printed by a terminating machine with n states.
busy beavermachinea terminating machine whose productivity is the busy beaver function
dizzy duckheuristicsee below
dizzy duckmachinea non-terminating machine whose induction proof requires the dizzy duck heuristic
frantic frogfunction largest number of state transitions by a terminating machine with n states.
frantic frogmachine a terminating machine whose number of state transitions is the frantic frog function
ignoble iguanamachinea machine which can be ignored in the search for busy beavers and placid platypodes. Includes road runners, perennial pigeons and phlegmatic phoenices.
killer kangaroomachine a machine whose non-termination proof requires a multplicative hypothesis
maniacal monkeyheuristic see below
maniacal monkeymachine a machine whose non-termination proof requires the maniacal monkey heuristic
meandering meerkatmachinea machine whose halt transition is unreachable from an all-blank input
perennial pigeonmachine a machine which repeats a tape configuration
phlegmatic phoenixmachine a machine which returns the tape to all blanks at some point in the computation
placid platypusfunction smallest number of states required to print n 1's with a terminating machine
placid platypusmachine a terminating machine whose number of states is the placid platypus function and which prints the requisite number of 1's
road runnermachine a machine which moves infinitely in a single direction
slithery snakeheuristic see below
slithery snakemachine a non-terminating machine whose non-termination proof requires the slithery snake heuristic
terminating termitemachine a machine which terminates
unknown unicornmachine a machine whose classification is as yet unknown
wild wombatheuristicsee below
wild wombatmachinea non-terminating machine whose non-termination proof requires only the wild wombat heuristic
weary wombatfunction the mininum number of state transitions required to print n 1's.
weary wombatmachine a machine whose number of state transition is given by the weary wombat function.


Explanation of heuristics goes here ...