Division by Zero in Logic and Computing

Jan A Bergstra (1)

1 Minstroom Research BV, Utrecht

The phenomenon of division by zero is considered from the perspectives of logic and informatics respectively. Division rather than multiplicative inverse is taken as the point of departure. A classification of views on division by zero is proposed: principled, physics based principled, quasi-principled, curiosity driven, pragmatic, and ad hoc. A survey is provided of different perspectives on the value of 1/0 with for each view an assessment view from the perspectives of logic and computing. No attempt is made to survey the long and diverse history of the subject.

Domaines: Informatique [cs]; Mathématiques [math]

Jan A Bergstra. Division by Zero in Logic and Computing. 2021. ⟨hal-03184956v2⟩