Word problem (mathematics)
This article is about algorithmic word problems in
mathematics and computer science. For other uses, see
Word problem.
In mathematics and computer science, a word problem
for a set S with respect to a system of nite encodings
of its elements is the algorithmic problem of deciding
whether two given representatives represent the same el-
ement of the set. The problem is commonly encountered
in abstract algebra, where given a presentation of an al-
gebraic structure by generators and relators, the problem
is to determine if two expressions represent the same el-
ement; a prototypical example is the word problem for
groups. Less formally, the word problem in an algebra is:
given a set of identities E, and two expressions x and y, is
it possible to transform x into y using the identities in E as
rewriting rules in both directions? While answering this
question may not seem hard, the remarkable (and deep)
result that emerges, in many important cases, is that the
problem is undecidable.
Many, if not most all, undecidable problems in mathe-
matics can be posed as word problems; see the list of un-
decidable problems for many examples.
1 Background and motivation
Many occasions arise in mathematics where one wishes
to use a nite amount of information to describe an el-
ement of a (typically innite) set. This issue is particu-
larly apparent in computational mathematics. Traditional
models of computation (such as the Turing machine) have
storage capacity which is unbounded, so it is in principle
possible to perform computations with the elements of
innite sets. On the other hand, since the amount of stor-
age space in use at any one time is nite, we need each
element to have a nite representation.
For various reasons, it is not always possible or desirable
to use a system of unique encodings, that is, one in which
every element has a single encoding. When using an en-
coding system without uniqueness, the question naturally
arises of whether there is an algorithm which, given as
input two encodings, decides whether they represent the
same element. Such an algorithm is called a solution to
the word problem for the encoding system.
1
2 The word problem in combinato-
rial calculus
Main article: Combinatory logic Undecidability of
combinatorial calculus
The simplest example of an undecidable word problem
occurs in combinatory logic: when are two strings of
combinators equivalent? Because combinators encode
all possible Turing machines, and the equivalence of two
Turing machines is undecidable, it follows that the equiv-
alence of two strings of combinators is undecidable.
Likewise, one has essentially the same problem in lambda
calculus: given two distinct lambda expressions, there is
no algorithm which can discern whether they are equiva-
lent or not; equivalence is undecidable.
3 The word problem in universal
algebra
In algebra, one often studies innite algebras which are
generated (under the nitary operations of the algebra)
by nitely many elements. In this case, the elements of
the algebra have a natural system of nite encoding as ex-
pressions in terms of the generators and operations. The
word problem here is thus to determine, given two such
expressions, whether they represent the same element of
the algebra.
Roughly speaking, the word problem in an algebra is:
given a set E of identities (an equational theory), and two
terms s and t, is it possible to transform s into t using
the identities in E as rewriting rules in both directions?.[1]
A proper extension of the word problem is known as the
unication problem (a.k.a. the equation solving problem).
While the former asks whether two terms are equal, the
latter asks whether they have instances that are equal. As
?
a common example, " 2 + 3=8 + (3) " is a word prob-
?
lem in the integer group , while " 2 + x=8 + (x) " is a
unication problem in the same group; since the former
terms happen to be equal in , the latter problem has the
substitution {x 7 3} as a solution.
Substitutions may be ordered into a partial order, thus,
unication is the act of nding a join on a lattice. In
this sense, the word problem on a lattice has a solution,
namely, the set of all equivalent words is the free lattice.
2 6 REFERENCES

One of the most deeply studied cases of the word prob-
lem is in the theory of semigroups and groups. There are
many groups for which the word problem is not decidable,
in that there is no Turing machine that can determine the
equivalence of two arbitrary words in a nite time.
The word problem on ground terms is not decidable.[2]
[2] Yuri Matijasevich, (1967) Simple examples of undecid-
able associative calculi, Soviet Mathematics Doklady 8(2)
pp 555557.
[3] Peter T. Johnstone, Stone Spaces, (1982) Cambridge Uni-
versity Press, Cambridge, ISBN 0-521-23893-5. (See
chapter 1, paragraph 4.11)

The word problem on free Heyting algebras is dicult.[3]
The only known results are that the free Heyting algebra
on one generator is innite, and that the free complete
Heyting algebra on one generator exists (and has one
more element than the free Heyting algebra).
[4] K. H. Blsius and H.-J. Brckert, ed. (1992). Deduktion-
sssysteme. Oldenbourg. p. 291. ; here: p.126, 134
[5] Apply rules in any order to a term, as long as possible; the
result doesn't depend on the order; it is the terms normal
form.

4 Example: A term rewriting sys-

tem to decide the word problem
in the free group
Blsius and Brckert [4] demonstrate the KnuthBendix
algorithm on an axiom set for groups. The algorithm
yields a conuent and noetherian term rewrite system that
transforms every term into a unique normal form.[5] The
rewrite rules are numbered incontiguous since some rules
became redundant and were deleted during the algorithm
run. The equality of two terms follows from the axioms
if and only if both terms are transformed into literally the
same normal form term. For example, the terms

((a1 a)(bb1 ))1 (1(bb1 ))1 (11)1 11 1

R2 R13 R1 R8

b((ab)1 a) b((b1 a1 )a)b(b1 (a1 a))b(b1 1) bb1 1

R17 R3 R2 R11 R13

share the same normal form, viz. 1 ; therefore both terms

are equal in every group. As another example, the term
1 (a b) and b (1 a) has the normal form a b and b a
, respectively. Since the normal forms are literally dier-
ent, the original terms cannot be equal in every group. In
fact, they are usually dierent in non-abelian groups.

5 See also
Munn tree

Word problem for groups

KnuthBendix completion algorithm

Unication (computer science)

6 References
[1] Franz Baader and Tobias Nipkow, Term Rewriting and All
That, Cambridge University Press, 1998, p. 5
 3

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