Concept
Normal form
A standard way of writing an expression, chosen so that equivalent expressions written that way are identical.
Named by 2 essays across one field — each of them below, with the objects they name alongside it.
A formula is a corner of a cube
A formula about three letters is a set of eight rows. Written as a table that is a list; drawn on a cube it is a shape — and the shape is what almost every later question in this field turns out to be about.
The map that puts neighbours side by side
Reorder the rows of a truth table so that neighbouring squares differ in one letter, and finding a short formula stops being algebra and becomes the problem of covering a shape with rectangles.
Named alongside it
The objects these essays reach for when they reach for this one.
HypercubeTruth functionAssignmentConnectiveCoveringGray codeKarnaugh mapMinimalityParityPrime implicantPropositional formulaSatisfiability