alt Hacker NewsI'd really like more details on the terminology used.
Also I'd be glad to see a specific example of a function, considered elementary, which is not representable by EML.
It could be hard, and in any case, thanks for the article. I wish it would be more accessible to me.
I only skimmed the article, but I think the idea is to use some variation on:
f(a,b,c,d,e) = the largest real solution x of the quintic equation x^5 + ax^4 + bx^3 + cx^2 + dx + e = 0
There's not a simple formula for this function (which is the basic point), but certainly it is a function: you feed it five real numbers as input, and it spits out one number as output. The proof that you can't generate this function using the single one given looks like some fairly routine Galois theory.
Whether this function is "considered elementary" depends on who you ask. Most people would not say this is elementary, but the author would like to redefine the term to include it, which would make the theorem not true anymore.
Why any of this would shake the foundations of computer engineering I do not know.