Boolean function
Boolean function
Main page
2152159

Boolean function

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Boolean function

In mathematics, a Boolean function is a function whose arguments and result assume values from a two-element set (usually {true, false}, {0,1} or {−1,1}). Alternative names are switching function, used especially in older computer science literature, and truth function (or logical function), used in logic. Boolean functions are the subject of Boolean algebra and switching theory.

A Boolean function takes the form , where is known as the Boolean domain and is a non-negative integer called the arity of the function. In the case where , the function is a constant element of . A Boolean function with multiple outputs, with is a vectorial or vector-valued Boolean function (an S-box in symmetric cryptography).

There are different Boolean functions with arguments; equal to the number of different truth tables with entries.

Every -ary Boolean function can be expressed as a propositional formula in variables , and two propositional formulas are logically equivalent if and only if they express the same Boolean function.

The rudimentary symmetric Boolean functions (logical connectives or logic gates) are:

An example of a more complicated function is the majority function (of an odd number of inputs).

A Boolean function may be specified in a variety of ways:

Algebraically, as a propositional formula using rudimentary Boolean functions:

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.