Definition:Atom (Logic)

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This page is about Atom in the context of Logic. For other uses, see Atom.


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Definition

In a particular branch of logic, certain concepts are at such a basic level of simplicity they can not be broken down into anything simpler.

Those concepts are called atoms or described as atomic.


Different branches of logic admit different atoms.


Propositional Logic

In propositional logic, the atoms are statements.


Also defined as

Some sources define atom to mean what is defined in $\mathsf{Pr} \infty \mathsf{fWiki}$ as a literal: a statement variable or the negation of a statement variable.


Also known as

Some sources use the longer form atomic sentence.


Linguistic Note

The word atom comes from the Greek ἄτομον, meaning unbreakable or indecomposable.

It is pronounced with a short a, as at-tom, as opposed to ay-tom.


Sources

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