GF(2)(also denoted , Z/2Z or ) is the finite field of two elements (GF is the initialism of Galois field, another name for finite fields). Notations Z_2 and may be encountered although they can be confused with the notation of 2-adic integers. GF(2) is the field with the smallest possible number of elements, and is unique if the additive identity and the multiplicative identity are denoted respectively 0 and 1, as usual. The elements of GF(2) may be identified with the two possible values of a bit and to the boolean values true and false.
Symmetric differenceIn mathematics, the symmetric difference of two sets, also known as the disjunctive union, is the set of elements which are in either of the sets, but not in their intersection. For example, the symmetric difference of the sets and is . The symmetric difference of the sets A and B is commonly denoted by or The power set of any set becomes an abelian group under the operation of symmetric difference, with the empty set as the neutral element of the group and every element in this group being its own inverse.
Hadamard transformThe Hadamard transform (also known as the Walsh–Hadamard transform, Hadamard–Rademacher–Walsh transform, Walsh transform, or Walsh–Fourier transform) is an example of a generalized class of Fourier transforms. It performs an orthogonal, symmetric, involutive, linear operation on 2m real numbers (or complex, or hypercomplex numbers, although the Hadamard matrices themselves are purely real). The Hadamard transform can be regarded as being built out of size-2 discrete Fourier transforms (DFTs), and is in fact equivalent to a multidimensional DFT of size 2 × 2 × ⋯ × 2 × 2.
Reversible computingReversible computing is any model of computation where the computational process, to some extent, is time-reversible. In a model of computation that uses deterministic transitions from one state of the abstract machine to another, a necessary condition for reversibility is that the relation of the mapping from states to their successors must be one-to-one. Reversible computing is a form of unconventional computing. Due to the unitarity of quantum mechanics, quantum circuits are reversible, as long as they do not "collapse" the quantum states they operate on.
Parity bitA parity bit, or check bit, is a bit added to a string of binary code. Parity bits are a simple form of error detecting code. Parity bits are generally applied to the smallest units of a communication protocol, typically 8-bit octets (bytes), although they can also be applied separately to an entire message string of bits. The parity bit ensures that the total number of 1-bits in the string is even or odd. Accordingly, there are two variants of parity bits: even parity bit and odd parity bit.
Mask (computing)In computer science, a mask or bitmask is data that is used for bitwise operations, particularly in a bit field. Using a mask, multiple bits in a byte, nibble, word, etc. can be set either on or off, or inverted from on to off (or vice versa) in a single bitwise operation. An additional use of masking involves predication in vector processing, where the bitmask is used to select which element operations in the vector are to be executed (mask bit is enabled) and which are not (mask bit is clear).
Short-circuit evaluationShort-circuit evaluation, minimal evaluation, or McCarthy evaluation (after John McCarthy) is the semantics of some Boolean operators in some programming languages in which the second argument is executed or evaluated only if the first argument does not suffice to determine the value of the expression: when the first argument of the AND function evaluates to false, the overall value must be false; and when the first argument of the OR function evaluates to true, the overall value must be true.
Linear-feedback shift registerIn computing, a linear-feedback shift register (LFSR) is a shift register whose input bit is a linear function of its previous state. The most commonly used linear function of single bits is exclusive-or (XOR). Thus, an LFSR is most often a shift register whose input bit is driven by the XOR of some bits of the overall shift register value. The initial value of the LFSR is called the seed, and because the operation of the register is deterministic, the stream of values produced by the register is completely determined by its current (or previous) state.
