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Ready to go? Get to the heart of USA with one of Lonely Planet's in-depth, award-winning guidebooks.
This tour is likely to sell-out! The Grand Canyon All-American Helicopter Tour regularly sells out weeks in advance, so book ahead to avoid disappointment!You'll discover the natural beauty of the Grand Canyon as your air-conditioned helicopter flies to the West Rim, passing over Lake Las Vegas, Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam en route. Hoover Dam is a spectacular sight from the air, curved between the rock canyon walls. During the flight, you can listen to a recorded commentary about the Grand Canyon and its surrounds via audio headphones.You'll land for an unforgettable champagne picnic, 3,200 feet (960 meters) below the rim. While you share a bottle of champagne under an authentic Native American Ramada shelter, your pilot/guide will be happy to answer any questions you may have about the canyon or your helicopter flight.Your Grand Canyon helicopter scenic flight ends with a low-level pass over the west side of the famous Las Vegas Strip. On landing, your limousine is waiting to whisk you back to your hotel. For a roomier experience, upgrade your flight to an EC-130 helicopter which allows for more leg room and can accommodate more weight per seat. See Additional Info for more details on weight restrictions There is a maximum capacity of 6 people per helicopter plus your pilot.
Take an architecture cruise down the Chicago River and learn about the city's famed architecture from your knowledgeable guide. Board your tour at Navy Pier for an exciting journey that takes you down all three branches of the historic Chicago River and past impressive architectural landmarks. Pass by more than 40 distinctive buildings on your cruise including the John Hancock Center, the Wrigley Building, the Aon Center, Willis Tower (Sears Tower), the IBM Building and more. Your guide, an expert in architecture, will recount the two major events that helped shape the architectural history of the city. Learn about how the invention of balloon-frame construction revolutionized how homes were built, and hear the dramatic story of Chicago's rise from the Great Fire of 1871. Both of these milestones led Chicago to become one of the cradles of modern American architecture.Along the scenic 75-minute route, see buildings by world-famous architects including Mies van der Rohe, Helmut Jahn and Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM). This river tour provides the best advantage point to admire the distinct city skyline and marvel at world-famous architecture while learning about Chicago's fascinating history.For a full list of Chicago architectural wonders seen on this tour, see the Itinerary section below.
Leaving Las Vegas behind, you'll enjoy an approximate 15-minute Hoover Dam Photo Stop from the pedestrian walkway along the new Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge! You'll then travel through the ancient Joshua Tree Forest en route to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon - the road gets a little dusty and bumpy here!Once at the West Rim you will have 3 hours of unguided time at the Grand Canyon. It's up to you to spend as little or as long as you wish at each of the following attractions. Top Attractions: The spectacular Grand Canyon Skywalk (if option selected) where you can take a walk over the edge of the canyon on a glass bridge Eagle Point Indian Village - explore Native American history and culture with replica dwellings and performances of traditional dance Hualapai Ranch Wild West show Hot lunch at Guano Point, Cowboy Cookout or the Skywalk Cafe (vegetarian options are available) Spectacular views over the Colorado River at Guano Point and panoramic views of the Grand Canyon from Eagle Point Complimentary Grand Canyon West Express shuttle bus Travel time between Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon is around three hours each way. Your driver will provide an expert commentary along the way, returning you to Las Vegas in time for a night out on the town. Motor coaches are climate controlled and equipped with restrooms, reclining seats, video monitors and over-sized windows.Helicopter - Boat Combo Upgrade: Why not complete your Grand Canyon experience with a thrilling helicopter flight to the floor of the Grand Canyon. You will be flown 4,000 feet to the base of the Canyon where you will board a pontoon boat for an approximate 15-minute ride on the Colorado River. Enjoy the Grand Canyon Skywalk (if option selected) and the panoramic view.
Top of the Rock Observation Deck is open 365 days a year. Watch the seasons unfold or take in an amazing sunset from the outdoor observation deck. Interactive displays are exhibited detailing the construction of the Rockefeller Center, including three short films.Located in the heart of Rockefeller Center, it not only has the most breathtaking views in the city, but is also surrounded by the best shopping, dining, and entertainment in Midtown.
Start your 6.5-hour Hoover Dam tour with hotel pickup from selected Las Vegas hotels. Hop aboard the air-conditioned vehicle for transport to Hoover Dam, an approximate 45-minute drive away. En route, your guide enlightens your small group with encyclopedic knowledge on all aspects of Hoover Dam and its history. On arrival, you'll begin with a Powerplant tour. Travel 524 feet (160 meters) into the walls of Black Canyon to view the Nevada Powerwing, generators and a 30-foot-diameter (9-meter) pipe inside one of the four diversion tunnels. Next, head into the Hoover Dam Visitor Center where you can see the history of Hoover Dam and view numerous exhibits that explain how the dam was built, how it operates and who benefits from the water and electricity. Then take a fully guided Walk on the Top tour — a comprehensive 45-minute walking tour over the top of the dam. You will also take a stop at the new bypass bridge to see the dam from above, from a distance, before enjoying an early afternoon lunch at a restaurant on the way back to Las Vegas (see menu options below). As you drive back to town, hear Vegas trivia about Howard Hughes, the mafia and more before drop-off at selected hotels.
The Empire State Building is waiting for you day or night. Come watch the sunset as New York is bathed in warm orange, red and yellow tones, then stick around as the lights come on all over town. Or come later and listen to the live music (weekends only) as the stars and lights twinkle romantically. Whenever you come, enjoy the magic without the wait. There are 3 lines at the Empire State Building Observatory: the security line (required for all visitors), the ticket line and the elevator line. You may proceed directly to the turnstile with your voucher. VIP Express Experience Upgrade Speed past the lines on your way to the tallest point in Manhattan! Your VIP Express Experience voucher will enable you to proceed directly to the front of every line, saving valuable time to do all the other things New York is famous for. Don't spend your valuable holiday time waiting in line -- there's no faster way to the top of the Empire State Building! You'll be greeted on the second floor to redeem your pass pre-security, eliminating the need to redeem vouchers at the ticket office. You'll also receive a special wristband to identify you as a VIP Express Experience pass holder. VIP Express Experience passes are especially valuable from Memorial Day through Labor Day, from Thanksgiving until New Year's any time of day and all holiday weekends. Other times of year the pass is recommended for planned visits between 11am and 2pm, and one hour before and after sunset. Limited numbers of passes are sold, so typical wait time is under 5-minutes. Specific wait times cannot be guaranteed, only front of line privileges. Voucher can be redeemed within a year of date purchased - plan your visit around the weather!
Quite simply, we help make Texas a great place to live and work by offering easy access to government information and more than 1,000 convenient, secure online services. Take a of our new one-page website!
We also work with state and local governments to help them process online payments and put their services online.
We operate without tax funds through a public-private partnership between the State of Texas and Texas NICUSA, LLC. Texas NICUSA is a subsidiary of , the nation's leading provider of official government portals, online services, and secure payment processing solutions.
Since we were born in 2000, our Texas.gov program has securely processed 254 million+ online transactions worth $33 billion+ on behalf of our government partners. And, we've contributed $178 million in new revenue to the State's General Revenue Fund.
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Texas.gov lets you securely complete hundreds of government services online. We've organized these services by category in our awesome
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Access general information about each state agency .
Where can I find voting information?
Find your polling place and find out if you are registered by visiting the VoteTexas.gov website and entering your personal voter information.
Where can I find information about the Texas Legislature and Judiciary?
Visit the
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For more information about Texas Government, such as open data, social media profiles, cities and counties, and more, please visit FIND IT .
How do I find a college or university in Texas?
Find colleges and universities in Texas by visiting the College for all Texans website .
How do I find out about the schools in my city/town?
Visit the Texas Education Agency
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Where can I get more information about health care insurance in Texas?
Visit the Texas Health Options website for access to extensive information about Texas health care coverage and insurance options.
Where can I get information about public health emergencies?
Visit the Department of State Health Services
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page for information, resources, and tips to keep you and your family safe.
For more information about Living in Texas, such as assistance benefits, education, health wellness, and more, please visit FIND IT .
How do I start a business in Texas?
Visit Texas.gov/Work for information from multiple government resources related to starting a new business.
How do I find a job in Texas?
Visit the Jobs section in Find It for extensive job search information.
Where can I get information about unemployment benefits?
Visit the Texas Workforce Commission website to learn more about unemployment benefits in Texas, including how to apply online.
How can I get workers compensation in Texas?
Find links to information and resources on the Texas Department of Insurance website .
For more information about Working in Texas, such as assistance benefits, training resources, and more, please visit
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How do I become a Texas resident?
Visit the following links for information about residency requirements: Driver License , Vehicle Registration , and Voting .
How can I find information about traveling in Texas?
Visit the Travel Tex website for more information about tourism and travel in Texas.
Where can I find information about Texas parks?
Visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's "Life's Better Outside" website for information about Texas State parks and outdoor activities.
For more information about Exploring Texas, including recreation and travel, moving to Texas, and doing business in Texas, please visit FIND IT .
What is the 'Texas.gov price'?
The price of the Texas.gov online services includes funds that support the ongoing operations and enhancements of Texas.gov.
How does the Texas.gov website protect personal data?
The State and participating agencies own the information collected by applications on the Texas.gov website. The owner of each application directs how that data is used and released to the public according to applicable laws. Texas.gov has a separate privacy and security policy which details how information is collected and handled.
Is the Texas.gov website secure?
Texas NICUSA, LLC maintains the security of Texas.gov to the highest standards of government, commercial, and financial institutions. Our current security standards comply with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS), Texas Administrative Code (TAC) 202, and the Texas Public Information Act (Texas Government Code Chapter 552), as well as industry best practices that include the following organizations: The Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and The Software and Network Security Institute (SANS).
Is the Texas.gov website accessible for people with disabilities?
Texas.gov is compliant with the Americans for Disabilities Act and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
For more information about the Texas.gov program, please visit Texas.gov/Solutions .
The Texas.gov service that I'm trying to access is unavailable. Who should I contact?
If you experience technical difficulties while accessing a Texas.gov service, call toll-free 1-877-452-9060, send an email to
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Texas.gov is committed to providing a web presence that enables full public access to Texas government information and services. As such, Texas.gov complies with high accessibility standards to meet the needs of users with disabilities. More
Disabilities come in many forms, including but not limited to hearing impairment, visual impairment, and cognitive disorders. Reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate all users who utilize standards compliant web browsers, enabling software, or assistive devices.
To ensure the usability of Texas.gov for site visitors with access and functional needs, we stay up to date on current accessibility practices, including Texas Administrative Code, chapters and , and conduct testing throughout development of the website and when applying new technologies and advancements.We use various testing tools, such as
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, to verify that Texas.gov is in compliance with Section 508 . Additional accessibility reviews are conducted by volunteers of independent organizations to supplement internal evaluations by Texas.gov.
Additional information about accessibility programs in Texas is available from the Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities .
If you use assistive technology and the format of any material on our website interferes with your ability to access the information, please email
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. In your message, please indicate the nature of your accessibility problem, the preferred format in which to receive the requested material, the web address of the requested material, and your contact information so that we may best serve you.
If you have any questions or concerns about the Texas.gov Accessibility Policy, please contact us at [email protected] . For information about the accessibility of Texas.gov social media tools, refer to the Texas.gov Social Media Policies.
Each state agency and local government has its own accessibility policy; refer to an individual agency's policies for more information about its compliance with accessibility standards.
If you need to contact us via a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), dial 7-1-1 and ask the Relay Texas agent to call the Texas.gov webmaster at (512) 475-4700. Relay Texas provides telephone-interpreting service between people who can hear and those who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind or speech-disabled. For additional information please visit the Relay Texas web site .
At Texas.gov, your privacy is one of our top priorities. This policy describes the privacy and security practices regarding information collected from Texas.gov site visitors. More
The Texas.gov Privacy and Security Policy applies only to the Texas.gov site. This policy does not apply whenever visitors leave Texas.gov domains by clicking a link to an external site, including the sites of state agencies and local governments. The Texas.gov linking policy includes more information about links from Texas.gov to external sites.
For online transactions conducted on Texas.gov, individuals will be requested to enter information about themselves and/or the organization with which they are affiliated. When personally identifiable information is requested, there will be an indication of whether the disclosure of such information is mandatory or optional to continue the transaction. The type of information requested will vary based upon the type of transaction and the state agency or local government involved in the transaction with the individual. Texas.gov will collect the same information as would be collected if the transaction was performed in person, over the telephone, or through the mail with the state agency or local government. Additional information may be requested if required by law, if such information is necessary to verify an individual's identity and secure the transaction, or if the visitor voluntarily elects to receive information from state agencies, local governments, or Texas.gov.
For general use or browsing of Texas.gov, visitors are not asked for personally identifiable information, and none will be collected. Texas.gov uses server logs and persistent cookies to collect information about the number and types of visitors to Texas.gov and how they use the website. This information includes the type of browser, operating system, and the Internet Protocol ("IP") address used by each visitor and similar information about the computer network used. It also includes information verifying when and how pages of the website were accessed. However, no attempt is made to match this information with the identity of the visitor, except as is required to comply with a law enforcement investigation. For more information regarding cookies, see below.
Children under the age of 13 are not eligible to use services that require submission of personal information and should not submit any personal information to us. This includes submitting personal information to the website as part of a user profile or personalization profile. If you are a child under the age of 13, you can use these services only if used together with your parents or guardians. Seek guidance from your parents or guardians if you are under the age of 13.
If we decide to begin collecting personal information from children under the age of 13, we will notify parents that it is being requested, disclose the reasons for collecting it, and disclose our intended use of it. We will seek verifiable parental consent before collecting any personally identifiable information. If we do collect such information, parents may request information on the type of data being collected, view their child's information, and, if they choose, prohibit us from making further use of their child's information. We will not provide personal information about children to third parties.
Information collected during an online transaction is used for the following purposes:
Metrics from Texas.gov server logs and persistent cookies are used for the following purposes:
Texas.gov works with contractors to provide various products and services required for the operation of Texas.gov. Personally identifiable information may be shared with these contractors if necessary in connection with the transactions, in connection with maintenance and improvements to the Texas.gov site, and to support the services and applications offered on Texas.gov. Contractors and subcontractors of Texas.gov are prohibited by contract from selling information from or about the users of Texas.gov. Except as otherwise provided in this policy: (1) Texas.gov will not disclose the email addresses of members of the public who have communicated electronically with a governmental body without the affirmative consent of the affected individual; and (2) Personally identifiable information contained in a question or comment sent to Texas.gov in an email message or submitted in an online form is only used by Texas.gov to respond to the question or comment. Texas.gov may redirect the message to a specific state agency or local government if Texas.gov staff believes that the state agency or local government may be more qualified to respond.
The Department of Information Resources may be required by law enforcement or judicial authorities or applicable law to provide personally identifiable information to the appropriate governmental authorities. Additionally, Texas.gov will cooperate with law enforcement agencies in identifying those who appear to be using our services for illegal activities. Texas.gov reserves the right to report any information to law enforcement agencies, including personally identifiable information, in connection with activities that it, in good faith, believes to be unlawful.
Texas.gov does not sell and does not generally release (other than as provided in this policy) personally identifiable information to third parties; however, information provided to any governmental body may be subject to disclosure pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act and applicable federal and state legislation. Information about the Texas Public Information Act is available from the Office of the Attorney General and at Texas Government Code, Chapter 552 . Additionally, certain state agencies or local governments whose sites are accessible through Texas.gov may have different policies concerning the sale or release of personally identifiable information. Upon leaving Texas.gov and linking to an external site, the policies governing Texas.gov no longer apply and users are subject to the external site's policies. Questions and concerns regarding the information or services provided by a linked site must be directed to the entity or individual responsible for that site, rather than to Texas.gov. In addition, postings from the public on Texas.gov social media sites become public records and may be posted on Texas.gov, and once posted, are available to be viewed and copied by other users. This information may be subject to public information requests. Neither Texas.gov, nor its licensors or contractors performing services in connection with the social media sites are responsible for any actions of third parties who access information posted on any Texas.gov social media site.
For more information about public information requests, please refer to the Texas.gov Public Information Requests policy.
To protect the security of its employees, Texas.gov users, and hosted applications and services, Texas.gov complies with the following standards and codes as applicable:
In addition, Texas.gov uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for secure transmissions, which are identified as such on the site. SSL applies encryption between two computers, in this case the individual's personal computer and the Texas.gov server.Texas.gov utilizes 128-bit encryption, which is one of the stronger standard encryptions currently in the marketplace. At a minimum, the following information will be encrypted when transmitted to Texas.gov during a secure transmission:
A web browser will automatically activate the appropriate security features when initiating a transaction on Texas.gov. On most browsers, an unbroken key or locked padlock icon at the bottom of the browser screen indicates that a secure connection is in place.
Some of the services hosted on Texas.gov use cookies. A cookie is a small text file that a website stores on a visitor's personal computer to track specific information about that visitor's interaction with the website. The services hosted on Texas.gov use both session cookies and persistent cookies. A session cookie is temporary and only exists during a single session during which a visitor uses Texas.gov. Texas.gov session cookies are used to keep track of a particular online transaction and are destroyed after successful completion of a transaction, after a few minutes of inactivity, or when the browser is closed.
Persistent cookies continue to exist after a few minutes of inactivity, after the browser is closed, or after a visitor completes a single session. Texas.gov uses persistent cookies to track visitor activity on the site to structure content and make the Texas.gov websites easy to use. All persistent cookies from Texas.gov will expire within twenty-five months.
Texas.gov cookies do not contain or collect personal identifiable information about visitors. Moreover, Texas.gov will not match visitor activities with personally identifiable information, unless required by law or by law enforcement agencies, or as necessary to enforce the terms of use of the site. If an individual's web browser does not accept cookies, he or she may not be able to conduct online transactions on Texas.gov. However, this will not hinder normal browsing of the website. Texas.gov does not currently utilize web bugs or any other technology to track user activity other than those stated in this policy. However, as technology evolves, Texas.gov may change the technology in use, and will post changes to this policy on the site from time to time to reflect any such changes.
If you have any questions or concerns about the Texas.gov Privacy and Security Policy, please contact us at [email protected] . If you have any questions or concerns about how state agencies and local governments handle personal information, please contact them directly.
Advance permission to link to Texas.gov is not necessary. Be aware that Texas.gov subpages may change or be deleted at any time without notice. Entities and individuals linking to Texas.gov are encouraged to verify link accuracy periodically. More
Entities and individuals linking to Texas.gov shall not capture Texas.gov pages within frames, present Texas.gov content as its own, or otherwise misrepresent Texas.gov content. They shall not misinform users about the origin or ownership of Texas.gov content, or in any way attempt to modify the content and present it as the content of Texas.gov. Some information on Texas.gov may be protected by trademark and copyright laws and otherwise protected as intellectual property. Protected intellectual property must be used in accordance with state and federal laws and must reflect the proper ownership of the intellectual property.
Any link to the Texas.gov site should be a full forward link that passes the client browser to Texas.gov without barriers. The "back" button should return the visitor to original site if the visitor wishes to back out.
This section outlines the criteria that external websites must meet to have a link from Texas.gov. Texas.gov reserves the right to link to external websites that would provide a service to the citizen.
Upon leaving Texas.gov and linking to an external site, the policies governing Texas.gov no longer apply and users are subject to the external site's policies.Questions and concerns regarding the information or services provided by a linked site must be directed to the entity or individual responsible for that site, rather than to Texas.gov.
Texas.gov links to federal, state, and local governments that provide information and services that benefit Texas citizens and businesses. At its discretion, Texas.gov will consider link requests to non-governmental websites that contain information and/or services that further the purpose of Texas.gov. Any link suggestion to Texas.gov must undergo review to determine its relevance and appropriateness with respect to Texas.gov. Links are approved for Texas.gov based on the following criteria:
Link suggestions should be sent to [email protected] . Each link suggestion should address how the site meets the two acceptance criteria outlined above.
We require that links to external websites onTexas.gov meet the following conditions in order to remain on the site:
For questions and concerns regarding the linking policy, email us at [email protected]
Texas.gov will use the following policies to guide the use of social media sites in accordance with the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) Social Media Policy. More
Texas.gov may make available social media applications, and may publish social media content to third party sites. These sites are not official Texas.gov web sites and therefore, the external sites' policies apply. Please refer to the Texas.gov Linking Policy for more information.
Only public information is permitted to be posted by Texas.gov or State employees on Texas.gov social media websites. If communication that takes place on Texas.gov involves or requires private information, communication will be redirected through other appropriate channels. Postings from the public on Texas.gov social media sites become public record and may be posted on Texas.gov. This information may be subject to public information requests. For more information about public information requests, please refer to the Texas.gov Public Information Requests policy.
No personally identifiable information will be posted on Texas.gov social media sites by Texas.gov personnel. Texas.gov is not responsible for content posted by others to Texas.gov social media sites. Texas.gov users that enter personal information on Texas.gov social media sites do so at their own risk; Texas.gov is not responsible for the public display of such private information. Texas.gov may remove postings to its social media sites that contain personally identifiable information, but neither Texas.gov, nor its licensors or contractors are responsible for any damages caused by delays in such removal.
Social media sites may contain communications sent to or received by state employees, and such communications are therefore public records subject to State Records Retention requirements. These retention requirements apply regardless of the form of the record (digital text, photos, audio, or video, for example).
To the extent that the third party records retention policies are inconsistent with the Texas State Record Retention Schedule, Texas.gov will put forth reasonable efforts to archive copies of social media content in order to meet State records retention obligations.
Texas.gov social media sites are third party sites and have terms of service and policies that are not governed by Texas.gov or the State of Texas. These third party sites are not official Texas.gov web sites and the third party's website terms of service and policies apply. The terms of service for the social media sites used by Texas.gov can be found below:
All published Texas.gov social media content is subject to monitoring. This content may take the form of digital text for Twitter and Facebook, photography images for Flickr, and videos for YouTube.
User-generated posts will be rejected or removed if possible when the content of a post:
Accessibility: To accommodate Texas.gov users with disabilities, www.accessibletwitter.com is the suggested alternative access to the Texas.gov Twitter profile.
Record Retention: Texas.gov Twitter content will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule.
Accessibility: To accommodate Texas.gov users with disabilities, there are two suggested alternatives to access the Texas.gov Facebook Fan page:
Record Retention: Texas.gov Facebook updates will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule.
Accessibility: To accommodate Texas.gov users with disabilities, the mobile version of Flickr http://m.flickr.com/ is the suggested alternative to access the Texas.gov Flickr pool.
Record Retention: The following Texas.gov Flickr photos will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule:
Content: By submitting a photo to the Texas.gov Flickr pool, you are giving Texas.gov permission to use your photo on the Texas.gov homepage, website, mobile site, and social media platforms. For more information about photo submission guidelines, visit the Texas.gov Flickr pool at http://www.flickr.com/groups/texasgov/ .
Accessibility: Texas.gov will make an effort to link to and display videos on its YouTube channel that have closed captioning available for hearing impaired viewers.
For more information about the closed captioning feature on YouTube, visit: http://www.youtube.com/t/captions_about
Record Retention: The Texas.gov YouTube photos will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule.
Content: Videos displayed on the Texas.gov YouTube site will be related to Texas or Texas government.
Public information requests will be handled in accordance with the
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Unless a governmental body is authorized to withhold the information from an individual under Texas Government Code, Section 552.023, individuals are entitled to receive the information that state agencies and local governments collected through Texas.gov. Pursuant to Texas Government Code, Sections 552.021 and 552.023, individuals are entitled to receive and review that information. Pursuant to Texas Government Code, Section 559.004, individuals are entitled to have each governmental body correct inaccurate information. Individuals who discover through the use of Texas.gov that information relating to the individual is incorrect must contact each appropriate state agency or local government directly to request the information held about them and to correct any inaccurate information. Pursuant to Texas Government Code, Chapter 552, each governmental body may charge a fee to an individual who requests information about the data collected about him or her. However, the governmental body may not charge a fee to the individual to correct the information.
Public information requests will be handled in accordance with the Public Information Act .
Any trademarks that appear on this site are the property of their respective owners who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by Texas.gov. More
Any trademarks that appear on this site are the property of their respective owners who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by Texas.gov.
If you believe that any material contained on the Texas.gov site (the "Site") infringes your copyright or other intellectual property rights, you may notify Texas NICUSA, LLC of your copyright infringement claim in accordance with the following procedure. Texas NICUSA, LLC will process notices of alleged infringement which it receives, and may take action as authorized by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and/or other applicable intellectual property laws if it has the ability to do so. The DMCA requires that notifications of claimed copyright infringement should be sent to this Site's Designated Agent:
By mail: Texas NICUSA, LLC DMCA Agent c/o Stinson Leonard Street Stinson IP Administrator, 1201 Walnut, Suite 2900, Kansas City, MO 64106 By phone: 816-842-8600 By fax: 816-691-3495 By email: [email protected]
To be effective, the notification must be in writing and contain the following information (DMCA, 17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3)):
E-mails sent to [email protected] for purposes other than communication about copyright claims may not be acknowledged or responded to.
Please note: The State of Texas (and its licensors and contractors) disclaims any express or implied warranty in providing its computer system and any materials, information, graphics, products, or processes contained therein for public use. Neither the State of Texas nor any of its licensors or contractors makes any warranty, express or implied, nor assumes any responsibility in the use of any service or content available on or through the site or its accuracy, completeness, currency, its use for any general or particular purpose, nor that such items or use of such items would not violate or infringe rights of others. The services and content are provided on a strictly "as is" basis.
The State of Texas (and its licensors and contractors) specifically disclaims any and all liability for any claims or damages that may result from providing the Texas.gov web site or the information it contains, including any web sites maintained by third parties that link to the Texas.gov site. Texas.gov may provide links to external web sites if it is determined that they may be of interest to users. Texas.gov neither endorses the content, products, services, or viewpoints expressed by the linked sites, nor assumes any responsibility for the content of these linked web sites. Texas.gov makes no effort to independently verify, and does not exert editorial control over, information on pages outside of the Texas.gov domains.
Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the State of Texas, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.
Texas.gov is provided for public use on computer systems located within the State of Texas and for the use and benefit of citizens of Texas. Any person choosing to use this system or seeking access to information or materials on this system is subject to Texas jurisdiction. Any dispute arising therefrom shall be decided under the laws and in the courts in Texas.
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A Scam Email with the Subject "PayPal Accounts Review Department" was received in one of Scamdex's honeypot email accounts on Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:28:01 -0800 and has been classified as a Generic Scam. The sender was "PayPal Department" <email@example.com>, although it may have been spoofed.
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PayPal is committed to maintaining a safe environment for our community of customers. To protect the security of your account, PayPal employs some of the most advanced security systems in the world and our anti-fraud teams regularly screen the PayPal system for unusual activity.
We are contacting you to remind that on 08 March 2008 our Account Review Team identified some unusual activity in your account. In accordance with PayPal's User Agreement and to ensure that your account has not been compromised, access to your account was limited. Your account access will remain limited until this issue has been resolved.
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The Cullen Home…Mar 11th, 2008 | By Kallieross | Category: Movie News
The TMInsiders, from Twilight Moms, have just posted pics of the 'Cullen' home supposedly being used in the movie Twilight! They are not sure if exterior shots or interior shots will be used…we will just have to wait and see! You can see a few mor pics in the Gallery or go to Twilight Moms!


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The chief executive of the royal commission into child sexual abuse has resigned, with no public announcement why.
Janette Dines will leave her position of June 6.
The commission's chairman, Justice Peter McClellan, has not said why Ms Dines quit but commended her as the driving force behind the establishing the commission after it was announced in late 2012.
"Ms Dines has successfully created the structure and facilities that have enabled the Royal Commission to achieve a large amount in a short time," Justice McClellan said in a statement.
"On behalf of the commissioners, I express our great appreciation to Ms Dines for the contribution she has made to our work."
Ms Dines said she felt privileged to be involved with the commission and was happy to leave it in "good shape", but again offered no reason for her resignation.
The commission will next month hear from 50 child sex abuse victims in private sessions in Melbourne.
Before announcing her resignation, Ms Dines said private sessions were an important way for commissioners to find out first-hand about the impact of child sexual abuse and better understand how it could be prevented.
"The information that Victorians are sharing with the royal commission will help to inform recommendations on how to improve laws, policies and practices in Australia in order to provide a safer future for children," she said in a statement on Monday.
The commission will deliver its interim report to the Governor-General on June 30.


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13:45-14:30, H. Peter Gumm (Philipps-Universität Marburg)
A weak pullback preservation property of weakly monadic set functors
Inspired by recent investigations on congruence modularity, we show that a weakly monadic functor F (the associativity law is not required) weakly preserves pullbacks of constant maps if and only if F(1)=1.
Coffee break
15:00-15:45, Jirí Tuma (Karlova Universita Praha)
Antichains and business intelligence
We will present an example how useful elementary theory of ordered sets can be in business intelligence. It is a case study of collaboration between algebra group at Charles University in Prague and a start-up company, also based in Czech Republic.
15:55-16:40 Ferdinand Ihringer (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen):
Erdös-Ko-Rado Sets in Finite Geometries
Let $N = \{ 1, \ldots, n \}$. An \emph{Erd\H{o}s-Ko-Rado sets} (EKR set) of $N$ is a family $Y$ of $d$-sets of $N$ which pairwise intersect non-trivially. A famous result by Erd\H{o}s, Ko and Rado shows \begin{align*}
|Y| \leq \binom{n-1}{d-1} \end{align*} for $n \geq 2k$. There are many natural generalizations of EKR sets to other structures such as permutation groups or combinatorial designs. This talk will put its focus on EKR sets in vector spaces and polar spaces. Let $V$ be an $n$-dimensional vector space over a finite field of order $q$. A \emph{polar space} of rank $d$ over $V$ is defined by a non-degenerate, reflexive sesquilinear form (or some quadratic form) and consists of all subspaces which vanish on this form. The largest of these subspaces are called \emph{generators} and have dimension $d$. An EKR of a polar space is a set of pairwise non-trivially intersecting generators. Here the largest size of EKR sets in some Hermitian polar spaces is still open. The talk will start with discussing original EKR sets and its various proofs, which are already accessible to high school students, and will end with current research in vector spaces and finite classical polar spaces.
There will be no registration. Though, if you plan to attend, notice to logik(at)mathematik.tu-darmstadt.de would be wellcome.
Friday, July 17, 2015, at 13:30 in S2|15-201
Angeliki Koutsoukou-Argyraki
Approximate common fixed points and rates of asymptotic regularity for one-parameter nonexpansive semigroups
In this talk we present a recent work [1] that involves an application of proof mining to xed
point theory and to nonlinear semigroups. This is joint work with Ulrich Kohlenbach.
We extract quantitative information on the approximate common xed points of a one-
parameter strongly continuous semigroup of nonexpansive mappings (nonexpansive semi-
group) T(t) : t ≥ 0 on a subset C of a Banach space E, under the assumption that for each
x ∈ C the mapping t → T(t)x from [0;∞] into C is uniformly continuous on each compact
interval [0;K] for all K ∈ N and moreover given a b ∈ N it has a common modulus of uni-
form continuity for all x ∈ C such that ||x|| ≤ b. This is achieved by logical analysis of the
proof of a theorem by Suzuki in [2]. We then apply our result to extract rates of asymptotic
regularity for the nonexpansive semigroup T(t) : t ≥ 0 on a convex C ⊆ E with respect to
the Krasnoselskii iteration.
[1]Kohlenbach,U. and Koutsoukou-Argyraki,A: Approximate common fixed points and rates of asymptotic regularity for one-parameter nonexpansive semigroups, Submitted preprint.
[2]Suzuki,T. : Common fixed points of one-parameter nonexpansive semigroups, Bull. London Math. Soc. 38 1009-1018(2006).
An isomorphism from a graph G to a graph H can be seen as a permutation matrix X satisfying the equation AX = XB, where A and B are adjacency matrices of G and H, respectively. This means that Graph Isomorphism Problem can be stated in terms of 0-1 integer linear programming. The solutions to the relaxation of this integer program are called fractional isomorphisms. In 1994, Ramana, Scheinerman and Ullman proved that there is a fractional isomorphism between two graphs, if and only if the graphs cannot be distinguished by naive vertex classification, which is a widely used, intuitive method for isomorphism testing. I am going to present a new elementary proof of this theorem. There are other characterisations of the same concept, including a logic and a game characterization. I will briefly talk about them and give a new combinatorial characterization: two graphs are fractionally isomorphic, if and only if there is a so called migration from one to the other.
Proof interpretations are tools in mathematical logic with a wide range of applications: consistency results, independence results, and extraction of computational content from proofs, just to name a few. They are usually applied only in the context of logic or arithmetic. There is the dream of applying them even to set theory. Now the dream is fulfilled with a novel proof interpretation: Krivine's classical realisability. In this talk I present my personal digest of Krivine's classical realisability and one of its main applications to set theory: set theory ZF plus the statement "there is a set S between N (the set of natural numbers) and R (the set of real numbers) not equinumerous to its cartesian square S x S" is a consistent theory where both the axiom of choice and the continuum hypothesis fail. As a corollary we get two classical and celebrated results: ZF does not prove the axiom of choice nor the continuum hypothesis. This is a short, simple, and sweet talk, focusing on the ideas and setting aside technicalities.
* INRIA Paris-Rocquencourt, pi.r2, Univ Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cite, F-78153 Le Chesnay, France. Financially supported by the French Fondation Sciences Mathematiques de Paris.
A guarded recursive definition is one where the recursion variable only occurs in positions guarded by a delay operator. In this talk I will present a new model of guarded recursion and motivate it using two different examples: first as a model for computations with coinductive types such as streams, and second as a model of a metalanguage useful for defining models of programming languages with higher-order store. The model is a simple presheaf model (over the ordered natural numbers) and I will describe the computational intuition. If I have time I will describe work in progress on constructing models of intentional type theory with guarded recursion. Most of the talk describes joint work with Lars Birkedal, Kristian Stoevring and Jan Schwinghammer published at LICS 2011.
Modern software tends to undergo frequent requirement changes and typically is deployed in many different scenarios. This poses significant challenges to formal software verification, because it is not feasible to verify a software product from scratch after each change. It is essential to perform verification in a modular fashion instead. The goal must be to reuse not merely software artifacts, but also specification and verification effort. In our setting code reuse is realized by delta-oriented programming, an approach where a core program is gradually transformed by code "deltas" each of which corresponds to a product feature. The delta-oriented paradigm is then extended to contract-based formal specifications and to verification proofs. As a next step towards modular verification we transpose Liskov's behavioural subtyping principle to the delta world. Finally, based on the resulting theory, we perform a syntactic analysis of contract deltas that permits to automatically factor out those parts of a verification proof that stays valid after applying a code delta. This is achieved by a novel verification paradigma called "abstract symbolic execution."
We present a novel coalgebraic formulation of infinite extensive games. We define both the game trees and the strategy profiles by possibly infinite systems of corecursive equations. Certain strategy profiles are proved to be subgame perfect equilibria using a novel proof principle of predicate coinduction which is shown to be sound by reducing it to Kozen's metric coinduction. We characterize all subgame perfect equilibria for the dollar auction game. The economically interesting feature is that in order to prove these results we do not need to rely on continuity assumptions on the payoffs which amount to discounting the future. In particular, we prove a form of one-deviation principle without any such assumptions. This suggests that coalgebra supports a more adequate treatment of infinite-horizon models in game theory and economics. I will also sketch the possibilities that this (and more generalized) mathematics opens up for reflexive economics, which takes it serious that modeling in social science takes place within the modeled system and that essentially depends on self-referential paradoxes and corecursion and similar mathematical constructions. This opens the door to a proper treatment of the Lucas critique, evolutionary, institutional, agend based, computational, numerical economics, econometrics of non experimental data, money, value theory, political economics and management theory and also to a unification and cross fertilization between systems sociology, computer science and biology.
September 7, 2012, at 13:00 in S2|15-201
Pavol Safarik, TU Darmstadt
A functional interpretation for nonstandard arithmetic
We introduce constructive and classical systems for nonstandard arithmetic and show how variants of the functional interpretations due to Gödel and Shoenfield can be used to rewrite proofs performed in these systems into standard ones. These functional interpretations show in particular that our nonstandard systems are conservative extensions of E-HA\omega; and E-PA\omega;, strengthening earlier results by Moerdijk and Palmgren, and Avigad and Helzner. We will also indicate how our rewriting algorithm can be used for term extraction purposes. To conclude the paper, we will point out some open problems and directions for future research, including some initial results on saturation principles.
The computability of functions by Pour-El and Richards requires that Sequential Computability and Effective Continuity. So, a computable function must be continuous. The theory of Walsh series is based on the Fine metric, which is stronger than Euclidean metric. A function is Fine continuous if and only if it is continuous at dyadic irrationals and right continuous at dyadic rationals. So, Rademach functions and Walsh functions are fine continuous. The Fine computability is defined by means of the Fine topology instead of the Euclidean topology.
The fixed point property on tree-like Banach spaces
A Banach space $X$ is said to have the fixed point property if for every weakly compact convex set $K\subseteq X$ and every non-expansive $T:K\to K$ (i.e. $\|Tx-Ty\|\leq \|x-y\|$ for all $x,y\in K$), the map $T$ has a fixed point. This property is closely related to the geometry of the space under consideration. If the geometry of the space is "nice", i.e. if $X$ possesses normal structure, then $X$ has the fixed point property. On the other hand, a space without normal structure may fail this property (e.g. the space $L_1$) or it may enjoy this property (e.g. the space $c_0$).
In this lecture we will consider the important class of separable Banach spaces not containing $\ell_1$ with non-separable dual. Our purpose is to study these spaces with respect to the fixed point property. In particular, after discussing some known members of this class, we will present a Banach space belonging to the class under consideration which has the fixed point property even though it does not possess normal structure.
Non-principal ultrafilters, program extraction and higher order reverse mathematic
We investigate the strength of the existence of a non-principal ultrafilter over fragments of higher order arithmetic. Let (U) be the statement that a non-principal ultrafilter on N exists and let ACA_0^w be the higher order extension of ACA_0. We show that ACA_0^w + (U) is Pi1_2-conservative over ACA_0^w and thus that ACA_0^w + (U) is conservative over PA. Moreover, we provide a program extraction method and show that from a proof of a strictly \Pi1_2 statement \forall f \exists g A(f,g) in ACA_0^w + (U) a realizing term in G"odel's system T can be extracted. This means that one can extract a term t\in T, such that \forall f A(f,t(f)).
About the Herbrand Topos
Descriptive complexity is a bridge between complexity theory and logic. It asks for the logic resources that are necessary to define the computational resources such as time, space or the amount of hardware that are necessary to decide a property. Horn and Krom logic have their origins in propositional logic. Some researchers extend them to second logic, named SO-HORN and SO-KROM logic. We define revised and extended versions of these logics and get some results. We show that SO-HORN$^r$ and ($\exists$)SO-KROM$^r$ capture P and NL on ordered structures, respectively, and both SO-EHORN and $\Pi^{1}_{1}$-KROM capture co-NP.
November 4, 2011 at 15:00 in S2|15-201
Jaime Gaspar
Goedel functional interpretation
Abstract: We give a quantitative version of a strong nonlinear ergodic theorem for (a class of possibly even discontinuous) selfmappings of an arbitrary subset of a Hilbert space due to R.~Wittmann and outline how the existence of uniform bounds in such quantitative formulations of ergodic theorems can be proved by means of a general logical metatheorem. In particular these bounds depend neither on the operator nor on the initial point. Furthermore, we extract such uniform bounds in our quantitative formulation of Wittmann's theorem, implicitly using the proof-theoretic techniques on which the metatheorem is based. However, we present our result and its proof in analytic terms without any reference to logic as such. Our bounds turn out to involve nested iterations of relatively low computational complexity. While in theory these kind of iterations ought to be expected, so far this seems to be the first occurrence of such a nested use observed in practice. October 28, 2011 at 13:30 in S2|15-201
Abstract: We will recall a constructive scheme (which was presented in a previous talk of this seminar) which assigns to every tree T on the naturals a Polish space N(T) which is recursively presented in T. The effective structure of N(T) depends on the combinatorial properties of T, so that for various choices of a recursive tree T the spaces N(T) are not effectively-Borel isomorphic to each other. In particular there are recursively presented Polish spaces which are uncountable sets and yet not effectively-Borel isomorphic to the Baire space. On the other hand every recursively presented Polish space is effectively-Borel isomorphic to one of the spaces N(T), so the latter spaces are the correct effective analogue of the Baire space. We are going to present the recent results concerning the structure of the spaces N(T) and give a characterization of N(T) being effectively-Borel isomorphic to the Baire space in terms of the intrinsic properties of T.
Abstract: Every nonempty open set in a computable metric space contains a computable point. In contrast, the Non-Basis Theorem asserts that a nonempty co-c.e. closed set in Cantor space (hence, even in the real line) can avoid any computable points. Recent exciting progress in Computable Analysis naturally raises the question whether Non-Basis Theorems exist for connected co-c.e. closed sets. In this talk, we show global and local non-computability results concerning connectivity, local connectivity, simply connectivity, and contractibility for planar continua.
October 7, 2011 at 10:30 in S2|15-201
Hideki Tsuiki, Kyoto University
Unimodal Maps as Boundary-Restrictions of Two-Dimensional Full-Folding Maps
Abstract: Unimodal Maps as Boundary-Restrictions of Two-Dimensional Full-Folding Maps" Abstract I will start my talk with ideas on computational aspects for topological spaces. Then I will present what I have got for dynamical system through this idea, with an interactive program showing beautiful 2-dimensional figures. It is a generalization of Gray-code and the tent function to other topological spaces and no background knowledge is required to understand it.
Since then many other aperiodic tile sets have been found, not only on the discrete plane, but also on the continuous plane (the most famous being probably Penrose's "kite and darts" set of two tiles).
In this talk, I will describe yet another construction of an aperiodic tile set. Although the resulting tile set will produce tilings quite similar to those of Robinson's (an infinite hierarchical structure of embedded squares) the local constraints will be presented in a (hopefully) more natural way: we will start from simple geometrical figures and organize them step by step by adding new rules progressively to enforce the global structure.
At the seminar we will discuss the origins, basic ideas and notions of
synthetic topology, and some proofs. Depending on time, we'll speak about the logical and computational aspects of the theory.
Abstract: Hillam's theorem gives a characterisation of the convergence of fixed point iterations. We present a quantitative version of Hillam's theorem where we give an explicit rate of metastability (a kind of "finitary rate of convergence") for the fixed point iteration. We explain how this result is obtained by methods of proof theory used in the proof mining program, called functional interpretations, which extract computational content from proofs.
February 11, 2011 at 14:00 in S2|15-201
Alexander Kartzow
First-order logic on generalisations of pushdown graphs
Abstract: In their search for a topological characterization of relatively (i.e. oracle-) computable relations (aka multivalued functions), Brattka and Hertling (1994) have considered two notions: weak continuity (which is weaker than relative computability) and strong continuity (which is stronger than relative computability). Based on the Henkin quantifier, we propose a notion of uniform continuity and explore its relations to weak/strong continuity as well as to relative computability.
Abstract: It is known that determinacy of infinite games characterize many subsystems of second order arithmetic.
In this talk, we treat relatively stronger systems, beyond so-called "big five systems", and consider the possibility of determinacy as a tool to investigate strong systems of second order arithmetic.
We observe that the notion of nowhere density is essentially the earlier stability theoretic notion of superflatness, introduced by Podewski and Ziegler in 1978. With this, we show that for a subgraph-closed class C of (not necessarily finite) graphs, the following are equivalent:
1) C is nowhere dense
2) C is stable
3) C is dependent
The result can be generalised to classes of coloured digraphs. It fails if C is not subgraph-closed. For arbitrary graph classes, dependence is the most general notion, generalising both nowhere density and stability, as well as (locally) bounded clique-width.
This is joint work with Hans Adler.
MAX(f) = sup_{0<x<1} f(x) , INT(f) = int_01 f(t) dt .
It has been shown by Friedman and Ko (1982) that for the restricted an be approximated up to an error 2^{-n} on polynomial-space in n. In above's framework of computation, each computable real function f : [0,1] -> R is essentially represented as a type-2 function (in the sense of Weihrauch), mapping a rational sequence to a rational sequence, i.e., f \in (N->Q) -> (N->Q). This enables us to discuss the computational complexity of a real-valued function on classical Turing machines with oracle access. Here, a TM M computing f is presented with an oracle phi \in (N->Q) for x in [0,1] and a precision n in N, such that M produces the output M^\phi(n) \in Q with
|M^\phi(n) - f(x)| < 2^{-n}.
When it comes to the computation of the functionals MAX and INT, the encoding of an input for a Turing machine becomes even more critical: Instead of representing an x \in [0,1] by a fast converging sequence \phi \in (N->Q), we now have to encode a continuous real-valued function f : [0,1] -> R. The first goal of this thesis is to devise, compare and explore different ways of accessing an unknown continuous real function via black-box queries that model the actual computation of f as supported by certified numerics like interval arithmetic or the iRRAM. Building on this, the second goal of this Master's Thesis is to determine the query complexity of the MAX-functional with respect to different protocols. In combination with an complexity analysis of the protocols themselves, this should yield more explicit quantitative and parameterized both upper and lower bounds (compared to those presented in the beginning) on the complexity of MAX (and INT).
Computation with infinitely presented groups
Abstract: We give an overview of the current methods for computing with a class of infinitely presented groups, the so-called finitely $L$-presented groups. Theses infinite presentations generalize finite presentations and they allow interesting applications. In particular, our methods allow to compute the lower central series quotients and the Dwyer quotients of the Schur muliplier.
Computable fields and their algebraic closures
Abstract: We present recent results about computable fields F, especially those algebraic over their prime subfields, and embeddings of them into their algebraic closures. The discussion begins with the basic definitions and a review of Rabin's Theorem, and continues with more exact computability-theoretic comparisons, by Steiner and by the speaker, among the set of irreducible polynomials in F[X], the set of polynomials there with roots in F, and the image of F within computable presentations of its algebraic closure. Finally, we will discuss the Blum-Shub-Smale model of computation on the real numbers, and explain how it changes the array of tools available for examination of these questions. back to the top of the page
Proof interpretations with truthAbstract: A proof interpretation I of a theory S in a theory T is a function mapping
This is based on a joint work with Paulo Oliva. back to the top of the page
The monotone completeness theorem in constructive reverseAbstract: We investigate the monotone completeness theorem: MCT. Every bounded monotone sequence of real numbers converges within a subsystem of elementary analysis EL as a formal framework of constructive reverse mathematics aiming at classifying various theorems in intuitionistic, constructive recursive and classical mathematics. We distinguish a Cauchy sequence with modulus from a Cauchy sequence without modulus.
We give a logical principle which is stronger than LPO, and show that it is equivalent to the statement:
(1) Every bounded monotone sequence of real numbers is a Cauchy sequence without modulus.
We also give a function existence axiom which is weaker than the number-number choice for Pi0_1 formulas, and show that it is equivalent to the statement:
(2) Every Cauchy sequence without modulus is a Cauchy sequence with modulus.
Therefore MCT is divided into the logical statement (1), the function existence statement (2), and the Cauchy completeness of the reals which is constructively provable without countable choice.
back to the top of the page
Finite axiomatization of quasivarieties of relational structuresAbstract: Much attention was paid to the finite axiomatization of varieties and quasivarieties of algebras in the past. But the problem for relational structures was appearing sporadically. I will review what is known about this and add one new theorem. Namely, we prove that the graphs of monoids or groups (as relational structures) almost always generate non finitely axiomatizable quasivarieties.
On the expressive CNF formulas of bounded Tree- and Clique-Width
Abstract: We study the expressive power of certain families of polynomials over a field K. The latter are defined via Boolean formulas in conjunctive normal form. We attach in a natural way a graph to such a formula and study the resulting polynomial families when certain parameters of that graph like tree- and clique-width are assumed to bounded. back to the top of the page
Exakte reelle Arithmetik - reelle Zahlen aus der Sicht der InformatikAbstract: Die Menge der reellen Zahlen ist, anders als etwa die viel leichter algorithmisch greifbaren natürlichen Zahlen, überabzählbar. Als Konsequenz ist bereits die Definition des Begriffs "Berechenbarkeit" für reelle Zahlen deutlich komplexer als die klassische Berechenbarkeitsdefinition für natürliche Zahlen mit Turingmaschinen.
Implementierungen dieses Berechenbarkeitsbegriffes werden oft als "exakte reelle Arithmetik" bezeichnet; Basis ist dabei in der Regel eine Intervallarithmetik mit mehrfach genauen Zahlen, ergänzt um eine automatisierte Genauigkeitssteuerung. Damit sind numerische Algorithmen möglich, die in der endlichen Welt der double-precision-Zahlen nicht sinnvoll wären.Im Vortrag stellen wir einige der Prinzipien einer solchen Implementierung vor und werden dabei insbesondere als Beispiele ihre Anwendung (und ihr Verhalten) bei der "logistic map" und einfachen Differentialgleichungen betrachten. back to the top of the page
Slash and completeness
Abstract: Gödel's incompleteness theorems gave a fatal blow in Hilbert's program. Despite this, there were some attempts to salvage the program. One of them, by Hilbert himself, was to add omega-rule (if A(n) is provable for each fixed n, then "for all n, A(n)" is provable) to Peano arithmetic. This rule evades Gödel's incompleteness and gives a complete arithmetical theory. Proof interpretations are proof-theoretic tools to prove consistency results, conservation results, closure under rules and to extract computational content from proofs. The slash is a very simple toy case of a proof interpretation. However, the omega-rule boosts the slash, resulting in some interesting applications. We will talk about one of them: a very simple proof of the completeness of Peano arithmetic plus omega-rule. back to the top of the page
Martin Otto, TU Darmstadt
Acyclicity in hypergraph covers and applications
Abstract: Which degrees of acyclicity can be achieved in FINITE hypergraph covers? While actual acyclicity can always be had in generally infinite unfoldings, finite covers can only guarantee certain bounded forms of acyclicity at best. I want to discuss new constructions of weakly N-acyclic covers (joint work with Vince Barany and Georg Gottlob, Oxford) and N-acyclic covers with a view to their use in the finite model theory of guarded logics. back to the top of the page
Expressiveness and Computational Complexity of Euclidean Quantum Logic
Abstract: Quantum logic generalizes, and in dimension one coincides with, Boolean logic. The satisfiability problem of quantum logic formulas is shown NP-complete in dimension two. We then extend these considerations to three and higher-dimensional Euclidean spaces R^d and C^d. For fixed d>2, quantum satisfiability turns out polytime-equivalent to the real feasibility of a multivariate quartic polynomial equation: a well-known problem lying (probably strictly) between NP and PSPACE. We finally investigate the problem over INdefinite finite dimensions and relate it to the real feasibility of quartic NONcommutative *-polynomial equations. back to the top of the page
Comparison of Complexity over the Real vs. Complex Numbers
Abstract: We compare the complexity of certain problems over the reals with their corresponding versions over the complex numbers. We argue in particular that the problem of deciding whether a system of (real) polynomial equations has a real solution is strictly harder than asking for a complex solution, since it cannot be solved by a complex BSS-machine. On the other side we describe a family of problems, whose real versions are in the model of algebraic decision trees strictly easier than its complex versions. For this end we prove a new lower bound for the decision complexity of a closed algebraic set X in C^n in terms of the sum of its (compactly supported) Betti numbers b_c(W), which is for the first time better than logarithmic in b_c(W).
back to the top of the page
Topology in computable analysis
Abstract: Computable Analysis studies computability over the real numbers and related spaces. Since computable functions are continuous in some sense, topology plays an important role in this theory. The cartesian closed category QCB of quotients of countably based topological spaces turns out to be an appropriate category for modelling the topological aspects of higher type computation.
In this talk, we discuss topological properties of the Kleene-Kreisel continuous functionals and their surprising relationship to an open problem in exact real-number computation. This problem is whether two approaches in functional programming on higher type computability over the reals coincide.
We show that the sequential topology on the space N^(N^N), which is the space of Kleene-Kreisel continuous functionals of type 2, is neither zero-dimensional nor regular. Moreover, we establish non-regularity of further function spaces formed in the cartesian closed category of sequential spaces. This is one of the categories from which QCB inherits its cartesian closed structure. back to the top of the page
Sequential game theory: a formal and abstract approach
Abstract: In a game from game theory, a Nash equilibrium (NE) is a combination of one strategy per agent such that no agent can increase his payoff by unilaterally changing his strategy. Kuhn proved that all (tree-like) sequential games have NE. Osborne and Rubinstein abstracted over these games and Kuhn's result: they proved a *sufficient* condition on agent *preferences* for all games to have NE. I will present a *necessary and sufficient* condition, thus accounting for the game-theoretic frameworks that were left aside. The proof is *formalised* using Coq, and contrary to usual game theory it adopts an inductive approach to trees for definitions and proofs. By rephrasing a few game-theoretic concepts, by ignoring useless ones, and by characterising the proof-theoretic strength of Kuhn's/Osborne and Rubinstein's development, the talk also intends to clarifies sequential game theory.
Then I will sketch an alternative proof. Both proofs so far pre-process the preferences by topological sorting, which is surprising since it decreases the number of NE. Finally I will sketch two other proofs that pre-process the preferences only by transitive closure. The four proofs are all constructive and by induction, and I will compare them when seen as algorithms. The four proofs also constitute diverse viewpoints on the same concepts, the trial of diverse techniques against the same problem, and reusable techniques for similar structures.
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Proof interpretations with truth
Abstract: Proof interpretations are proof-theoretic tools to extract computational content (such as computable choice functions) from proofs. In some cases this only works (at least without strengthening the theories involved) for proofs of theorems of a particular logical form, but we wish to extract computational content from proofs of arbitrary theorems. Interpretations with truth have been developed to cope with this. We present two new methods on how to do hardwire truth and apply them to new proof interpretations.
In a first part we make a brief introduction to proof interpretations and the extraction of computational content from proofs. Then in a second part we present our two methods. Finally in a third part we apply them in some case studies.
This is joint work with Paulo Oliva. back to the top of the page
Real Computation with Least Discrete Advice: A Complexity Theory of Nonuniform Computability
Abstract: It is folklore particularly in numerical and computer sciences that, instead of solving some general problem f:A->B, additional structural information about the input x in A (that is any kind of promise that x belongs to a certain subset A' of A) should be taken advantage of. Some examples from real number computation show that such discrete advice can even make the difference between computability and uncomputability. We turn this into a both topological and combinatorial complexity theory of information, investigating for several practical problems how much advice is necessary and sufficient to render them computable. Specifically, finding a nontrivial solution to a homogeneous linear equation A*x=0 for a given singular real NxN-matrix A is possible when knowing rank(A)=0,1,...,N-1; and we show this to be best possible. Similarly, diagonalizing (i.e. finding a BASIS of eigenvectors of) a given real symmetric NxN-matrix is possible when knowing the number of distinct eigenvalues: an integer between 1 and N (the latter corresponding to the nondegenerate case). And again we show that N-fold (i.e. roughly log N bits of) additional information is indeed necessary in order to render this problem (continuous and) computable; whereas for finding SOME SINGLE eigenvector of A, providing the truncated binary logarithm of the least-dimensional eigenspace of A--i.e. Theta(log N)-fold advice--is sufficient and optimal. back to the top of the page
Effective Descriptive Set Theory and Applications in Analysis
Abstract: Descriptive Set theory is the area of mathematics which studies the structure of definable sets in separable and complete metric spaces. A central part of this area is Effective Descriptive Set Theory (for shortness Effective Theory) which uses ideas from Logic and in particular from Recursion Theory. This area provides a deeper understanding of the subject and has applications in Analysis. We begin this lecture with a brief summary of the basic concepts and we give a new approach to Effective Theory which yields some surprising results. Then we present some connections with General Topology; all theorems we talk about involve notions from both areas. Finally we give some results in Banach space Theory. Here all theorems involve only classic (i.e., non-effective) notions but still Effective Theory is essential for their proof. back to the top of the page
Ionads: a generalised notion of topological space
Acyclicity in hypergraph covers
On the Computational Content of Bolzano-Weierstraß
Abstract: We will apply the methods developed in the field of 'proof mining' to the Bolzano-Weierstraß theorem BW and calibrate the computational contribution of using this theorem in a proof of a combinatorial statement. Using a simple proof based on weak König's lemma and arithmetical comprehension we provide an explicit solution of the Gödel functional interpretation as well as the monotone functional interpretation of BW for the product space \prod_i \in N [-k_i, k_i] for a given sequence of rational numbers (k_i) \subseteq Q (with the standard product metric). In fact, we will use it to get optimal program and bound extraction theorems for proofs based on fixed instances of BW, i.e. for BW applied to fixed sequences in \prod_i \in N [-k_i, k_i]. back to the top of the page
Logics with Rank Operators
Abstract: It is a long-standing open problem in descriptive complexity theory whether there is a logic that expresses exactly the polynomial-time decidable properties of unordered structures. It has been known since the early 90s that fixed-point logic with counting (FPC) is not sufficient and there have been several proposals for more expressive logics. Taking our inspiration from recent results that show that natural linear-algebraic operations are not definable in FPC, we propose FPR - an extension of fixed-point logic with an operator for matrix rank. We show that this is strictly more expressive than FPC and can express the polynomial-time problems that have been shown to be inexpressible in FPC. We also show that FO+R, the extension of first-order logic with rank operators is surprisingly expressive. It can express some forms of transitive closure and, on ordered structures, captures the complexity classes ModpL.
In this talk, I will give the history and general background to the question and explain the context of the new results. I will also point to several interesting open problems. (Joint work with Martin Grohe, Bjarki Holm and Bastian Laubner).back to the top of the page
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Fachbereich Mathematik
Arbeitsgruppe Logik
Schloßgartenstraße 7
64289 Darmstadt
Tel.: +49-(0)6151-1622863
Fax: +49-(0)6151-1622840
Im Gebäude S2|15 im
Lageplan der TUD,
Abschnitt Stadtmitte Nord,
oder unter Anreise.


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Project Description
The goal of the project is to enable cost efficient production and widespread use of metal powders by developing a nozzle and control system for gas atomization that can be calibrated to produce specified particle size ranges. This project seeks to enhance the control of metal powder production by gas atomization methods to benefit the implementation of several emerging fossil energy technologies that utilize metal powders of specific size ranges and types, either not available from (novel compositions) or not efficiently produced by industrial powder.
Project Benefits
This project will improve the design of high-efficiency gas atomization nozzles in order to control particle size distribution and maximize the yield of powder in special size classes most suitable for high strength structural applications made by net-shape or near net-shape processing (e.g., additive manufacturing) and for thermal spray coatings. Improvement to high-temperature advanced materials will promote the development of advanced power plant designs that can operate at higher temperatures and pressures, with improved efficiency and operational flexibility, resulting in lower capital and operating costs.
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According to MSNBC.com , the Food and Drug Administration is launching an investigation into chemicals in imported orange juice. An unnamed American juice company detected small amounts of the fungicide carbendazim in both its own juice and a competitor's juice and notified the FDA. Carbendazim isn't approved for use on U.S.-grown citrus fruits but is used in Brazil, the world's largest orange producer.
Plus: New Concerns Over Arsenic and Lead in Fruit Juice
Before you snatch away your kids' morning O.J., know that the FDA isn't pulling orange juice off shelves because it doesn't believe the low levels of chemical will make customers sick. However, since carbendazim is illegal in the U.S., it will be checking all shipments at the border and detaining any that contain the chemical.
But you may find, uh, the squeeze put on your wallet at the market checkout. With the FDA testing juice, the supply is expected to go down, which sent juice stock prices up 11 percent on Tuesday.
Will you keep serving store-brand OJ to your family, or does the FDA investigation make you too nervous to keep drinking it?


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Logitech G9 Gaming Laser Mouse
Athletes all over the world are always searching for the best gear to help them exceed in their respective sports. Cyber athletes are no different in this regard. We are always looking for the best mouse, keyboard, graphics card, monitor, and whatever else will give us the edge over our opponents. In my opinion, the most important piece of equipment for cyber athletes is the mouse. Some ideal qualities are lightning quick responses, amazingly high dpi capabilities, great control and feel, as well as customizability. We'll be looking at the Logitech G9 gaming laser mouse today. Is this the mouse you need to put yourself above the competition? Let's see just how well this mouse does compared against some other popular mice on the market.
Logitech is a leading manufacturer in the input device industry. The company is world renown, trusted brand that provides honest, inexpensive solutions for the needs of many different users. Logitech continues to produce some of the finest input devices available to the public.
Closer Look:
The box that the G9 is packaged in is very unique. It has a cut out for the mouse to protrude to give potential customers an idea for what the mouse is like. The box is cut diagonally in half so you're pulling apart two triangles.
Once you open the box up, on the left you'll notice some of the key features of the mouse. On the right of the box you are shown one of the interchangeable faceplates for the G9. The back of the box also shows multiple key features of the mouse.
Before we get a closer look at the mouse, let's look at the included accessories. Included is the interchangeable faceplate, a container filled with weights, and a paper case. I was a bit confused on what was inside of this paper case which read "Pure Gaming". Inside of the case you'll find the instruction manual and a sheet informing you on how to change profiles on the mouse manually.
The weights are in a simple aluminum container and it holds a total of 44g of weight (four 7g weights, and four 4g weights).
Now let's examine this mouse more closely.


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PHOENIX – An eight person federal jury has returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in a sexual harassment lawsuit against AutoZone, Inc., the Memphis, Tenn.-based national auto parts retail giant, the EEOC announced today.
The jury ruled that AutoZone violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by subjecting employee Stacy Wing to a sexually hostile work environment. Wing complained about the sex harassment, but AutoZone failed to take immediate and appropriate action to stop it, the EEOC said. The jury verdict in favor of the EEOC provides Wing with $65,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.
The evidence presented at trial by the EEOC showed that Wing was subjected to egregious sexual harassment when she worked at the Mesa, Ariz.-based AutoZone in 2003. The EEOC presented evidence that the store manager repeatedly forced Wing's head down to his genitals and made crude sexual remarks to her. At least one incident was caught on the store's video camera, but AutoZone maintained it lost the video prior to trial, along with all records of Wing's complaints and the "investigation" AutoZone claims it conducted.
"I am grateful to the EEOC for believing in this case and seeking justice on my behalf," Wing said after the trial. "Without the EEOC, this type of behavior would go unchecked by those employers who do not care or do not understand how devastating sexual harassment can be to someone's life."
The jury found that the sexual harassment of Wing violated Title VII, the federal statute that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including sexual harassment) and national origin, and protects employees who complain about such offenses, or participate in investigations of such offenses, from retaliation.
EEOC Phoenix District Director Chester V. Bailey said, "The jury sent a strong message that AutoZone failed to remedy the sexual harassment of Ms. Wing. The lawyers from our office did outstanding work in litigating this case."
In Fiscal Year 2008, 32,535 total harassment charges were filed with the EEOC and state or local agencies nationwide. Of that total 13,867 charges alleged sexual harassment, an increase of 11 percent from the prior year and the highest level since FY 2002.
EEOC Regional Attorney Mary Jo O'Neill remarked, "No employee should ever be the target of this kind of illegal behavior. AutoZone had the opportunity to stop the sexual harassment when Ms. Wing reported it, but the company did nothing. As a result of AutoZone's inaction, Ms. Wing was physically assaulted by the store manager, which was ultimately caught on video tape. Even then, AutoZone just let the store manager resign; AutoZone failed Stacy Wing."
David Lopez, the EEOC's lead attorney who tried the case, added, "It is the bravery of women like Stacy Wing who step forward that causes positive changes in the workplace. We are pleased that Ms. Wing obtained justice in this case."
According to the company's web site, "AutoZone is the nation's leading retailer and a leading distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories with more than 4,200 stores in the US, Puerto Rico, and Mexico."
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.
The EEOC's Phoenix District Office has jurisdiction for Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and part of New Mexico (including Albuquerque).
This page was last modified on June 11, 2009.
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Will These Supreme Care About "Equal Justice for All?"
I lost what was left of my naiveté about the equal justice ideal of the Supreme Court with their decision in Bush v. Gore to select George W. Bush president by suspending Florida's vote recount in 2000. That political overreach by the increasingly activist right-wing majority, interfering in a state's right to count its own votes, was so radical that in the decision itself they forbid it to ever be cited in the future as a precedent.
Harvard Law Professor, Alan Dershowitz concluded: "[T]he decision in the Florida election case may be ranked as the single most corrupt decision in Supreme Court history, because it is the only one that I know of where the majority justices decided as they did because of the personal identity and political affiliation of the litigants. This was cheating, and a violation of the judicial oath." (Supreme Injustice: How the High Court Hijacked Election 2000)
I should have known. I'd read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States where he traces the essentially conservative and pro-business history of the Court. Even in the 19th century, Zinn documents: "the Supreme Court, despite its look of somber, black-robed fairness, was doing its bit for the ruling elite…. How could it be neutral between rich and poor when its members were often former wealthy lawyers, and almost always came from the upper class?"
With "W's" addition of ultra-conservative favorites Roberts and Alito, the right-wing justices became more radically activist to ensure that businesses had increasing power over individual citizens. All their carefully scripted talk in Senate confirmation hearings about following precedent and being "umpires," not legislating from the bench, was no better than today's right-wing political strategy that lying is okay if it promotes their ideology.
Decision after decision of the Roberts Court has eroded individual rights and increased the power of corporations and the police state. Eric Segall, professor of constitutional law at Georgia State University, in Supreme Myths: Why the Supreme Court Is Not a Court and Its Justices Are Not Judges goes so far as to argue that the Court, unbound by any court above it, set free by the vagueness of constitutional text, and uninhibited through the gift of life tenure, is operating like a freewheeling political "veto council" and not like any court that we would recognize as doing judicial work.
The activism of these right-wing justices was blatant in the 2010 decision of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. So intent were these justices on changing the political power in the country that they forced the case into doing so.
On June 29, 2009, in order to decide not on what was being argued by both sides but what they wanted to change in American society to benefit the interests of big business, the justices issued an order directing both sides to actually come back and re-argue the case months later, saying they were really interested in whether they could overrule precedents that restricted corporate contributions to political campaigns. As Justice Stevens pointed out in his dissent, the Court addressed a question not raised by the litigants, and the majority "changed the case to give themselves an opportunity to change the law."
Even former Republican-appointed justice Sandra Day O'Connor questioned the decision. Prophetically, she warned: "In invalidating some of the existing checks on campaign spending, the majority in Citizens United has signaled that the problem of campaign contributions in judicial elections might get considerably worse and quite soon."
It was little surprise then that during the Court's April hearings on challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Justice Scalia, for example, parroted tea-party talking points about the government forcing broccoli on everyone. Carried away with teaparty Republican propaganda, Scalia criticized "the Cornhusker Compromise" proposal in congressional discussions even though that never made it into the Act actually before the Court.
As if no facts matter at all, since he already knew what his opinion should be, Scalia even complained that he shouldn't be bothered with reading the actual bill that, aping the teaparty Republicans again, was too long. "You really want us to go through these 2,700 pages?" The questioning also made it clear that Roberts hadn't read it.
Working its way toward this Court is Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the challenge related to Proposition 8 in California. Proposition 8 adds a new provision to the California Constitution that provides that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
On August 4, 2010, US District Court Judge Vaughn R. Walker overturned Prop 8 as a violation of the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the U.S. Constitution. On February 7, 2012 a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals consisting of a conservative, a liberal, and a moderate judge agreed with Walker's decision 2-1.
On February 21, Prop 8 supporters appealed the case to the full Ninth Circuit Court. If the Circuit Court decides to review the case, the decision could take a year or more before it heads to the Supreme Court.
Because this Supreme Court is so motivated by ideology, I am hoping this takes its time. I can't trust this Court to do the legally right thing.
What will really matter is the political climate we the people create around this Court. The longer the process takes and the more lower judges that rule in favor of marriage equality, the more likely it is that this Court will too.
Time will give supporters of marriage equality the necessary opportunity to further change public opinion. If the case reaches this Court before Justice Kennedy, at least, sees the handwriting on the wall, it will be a long time before a negative decision will ever be overturned.
With the Supreme Court's decision so final, with four ideologues who get their orders from the right-wing dominating Court decisions for decades, and with the other options being constitutional amendments or waiting until those four die, advocates need both the time and further efforts of all supporters to guarantee equal justice for all.


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CHICAGO, IL – The Chicago Fire put in a strong final preseason performance, using goals from Dominic Oduro, Daniel Paladini and Orr Barouch to earn a 3-1 victory over Minnesota Stars FC at the Toyota Park Turf Field Friday morning.
The Fire pressured early and went up 1-0 when Patrick Nyarko darted into the box up the left before cutting back a centering pass for Dominic Oduro in stride. The Ghanaian striker one-touched his effort past Stars 'keeper Matt Van Oekel to give the Fire a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute.
Continuing the pressure after the break, the Fire doubled its lead on a beautiful piece of skill from Marco Pappa. The Guatemalan beat a defender to break into the box on the left, dribbled along the end line before centering a pass for Paladini who made no mistake as he smashed his effort to the back post in the 66th minute.
The Fire added to its lead in the 77th minute with a similar buildup as the first two goals. This time, Federico Puppo danced past a defender on the left before crossing for an open Orr Barouch at the back post, allowing the Israeli youth international to chest the ball over the line for a 3-0 advantage.
The second division side battled throughout and were rewarded a late consolation goal as a Neil Hlavaty free kick from the left picked out Connor Tobin who headed to the near post past substitute 'keeper Paolo Tornaghi in the 88th minute.
The Men in Red open up the 2012 MLS campaign next Saturday, March 17 at the Montreal Impact at Olympic Stadium at 1:00 p.m. CT.
The Fire host Opening Day at Toyota Park against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, March 24 at 7:30 PM CT. Chicago Fire Season Tickets are available by calling 1-888-MLS-FIRE (657-3473), via Ticketmaster or by heading to the club's official website at Chicago-Fire.com.
- Dominic Oduro tallied his team-leading fourth goal of preseason while Orr Barouch notched his third and Daniel Paladini grabbed his second.
Chicago Fire 3 – 1 Minnesota Stars FC
Chicago Fire: Jay Nolly (Paolo Tornaghi 46'); Dan Gargan (Tony Walls* 46'), Jalil Anibaba, Cory Gibbs (Hunter Jumper 64'), Gonzalo Segares; Rafael Robayo (Daniel Paladini 64'), Pavel Pardo, Logan Pause © (Michael Videira 82'); Marco Pappa; Dominic Oduro (Federico Puppo 70'), Patrick Nyarko (Corben Bone 64')
* - MLS SuperDraft/Supplemental Draft selection
Minnesota Starting XI: Matt Van Oekel; Brian Kallman, Kevin Friedland, Connor Tobin, Justin Davis; Andy Lorei, Kentaro Takada, Neil Hlavaty, Miguel Ibarra; Amani Walker, Devin Del Do
Scoring Summary
CHI – Dominic Oduro (Patrick Nyarko) 18'
CHI – Daniel Paladini (Marco Pappa) 66'
CHI – Orr Barouch (Federico Puppo) 81'
MIN – Connor Tobin (Neil Hlavaty) 88'
Misconduct Summary