We introduce multi-head finite-state dimension, a generalization of finite-state dimension in which a group of finite-state agents (the heads) with oblivious, one-way movement rules, each reporting only one symbol at a time, enable their leader to bet on subsequent symbols in an infinite data stream. In aggregate, such a scheme constitutes an $h$-head finite state gambler whose maximum achievable growth rate of capital in this task, quantified using betting strategies called gales, determines the multi-head finite-state dimension of the sequence. The 1-head case is equivalent to finite-state dimension as defined by Dai, Lathrop, Lutz and Mayordomo (2004). In our main theorem, we prove a strict hierarchy as the number of heads increases, giving an explicit sequence family that separates, for each positive integer $h$, the earning power of $h$-head finite-state gamblers from that of $(h+1)$-head finite-state gamblers. We prove that multi-head finite-state dimension is stable under finite unions but that the corresponding quantity for any fixed number $h>1$ of heads--the $h$-head finite-state predimension--lacks this stability property.

The Schnorr-Stimm dichotomy theorem (Schnorr and Stimm, 1972) concerns finite-state gamblers that bet on infinite sequences of symbols taken from a finite alphabet Σ. The theorem asserts that, for any such sequence S, the following two things are true. (1) If S is not normal in the sense of Borel (meaning that every two strings of equal length appear with equal asymptotic frequency in S), then there is a finite-state gambler that wins money at an infinitely-often exponential rate betting on S. (2) If S is normal, then any finite-state gambler loses money at an exponential rate betting on S. In this paper we use the Kullback-Leibler divergence to formulate the lower asymptotic divergence div(S||α) of a probability measure α on Σ from a sequence S over Σ and the upper asymptotic divergence Div(S||α) of α from S in such a way that a sequence S is α-normal (meaning that every string w has asymptotic frequency α(w) in S) if and only if Div(S||α)=0. We also use the Kullback-Leibler divergence to quantify the total risk RiskG(w) that a finite-state gambler G takes when betting along a prefix w of S. Our main theorem is a strong dichotomy theorem that uses the above notions to quantify the exponential rates of winning and losing on the two sides of the Schnorr-Stimm dichotomy theorem (with the latter routinely extended from normality to α-normality). Modulo asymptotic caveats in the paper, our strong dichotomy theorem says that the following two things hold for prefixes w of S. ( $1~'$ ) The infinitely-often exponential rate of winning in 1 is 2Div(S||α)|w|. ( $2~'$ ) The exponential rate of loss in 2 is 2- RiskG(w). We also use (1 $'$ ) to show that 1- Div(S||α)/c, where c = log(1/ mina ∈ Σα(a)), is an upper bound on the finite-state α-dimension of S and prove the dual fact that 1- div(S||α)/c is an upper bound on the finite-state strong α-dimension of S.

The Schnorr-Stimm dichotomy theorem [Schnorr and Stimm, 1972] concerns finite-state gamblers that bet on infinite sequences of symbols taken from a finite alphabet Σ. The theorem asserts that, for any such sequence S, the following two things are true. (1) If S is not normal in the sense of Borel (meaning that every two strings of equal length appear with equal asymptotic frequency in S), then there is a finite-state gambler that wins money at an infinitely-often exponential rate betting on S. (2) If S is normal, then any finite-state gambler betting on S loses money at an exponential rate betting on S. In this paper we use the Kullback-Leibler divergence to formulate the lower asymptotic divergence div(S||α) of a probability measure α on Σ from a sequence S over Σ and the upper asymptotic divergence Div(S||α) of α from S in such a way that a sequence S is α-normal (meaning that every string w has asymptotic frequency α(w) in S) if and only if Div(S||α)=0. We also use the Kullback-Leibler divergence to quantify the total risk Risk_G(w) that a finite-state gambler G takes when betting along a prefix w of S. Our main theorem is a strong dichotomy theorem that uses the above notions to quantify the exponential rates of winning and losing on the two sides of the Schnorr-Stimm dichotomy theorem (with the latter routinely extended from normality to α-normality). Modulo asymptotic caveats in the paper, our strong dichotomy theorem says that the following two things hold for prefixes w of S. (1') The infinitely-often exponential rate of winning in 1 is 2^{Div(S||α)|w|}. (2') The exponential rate of loss in 2 is 2^{-Risk_G(w)}. We also use (1') to show that 1-Div(S||α)/c, where c= log(1/ min_{a∈Σ} α(a)), is an upper bound on the finite-state α-dimension of S and prove the dual fact that 1-div(S||α)/c is an upper bound on the finite-state strong α-dimension of S.

We study the interaction between polynomial space randomness and a fundamental result of analysis, the Lebesgue differentiation theorem. We generalize Ko's framework for polynomial space computability in R^n to define weakly pspace-random points, a new variant of polynomial space randomness. We show that the Lebesgue differentiation theorem characterizes weakly pspace random points. That is, a point x is weakly pspace random if and only if the Lebesgue differentiation theorem holds for a point x for every pspace L_1-computable function.