diff --git a/src/backend/cpu/eval.rs b/src/backend/cpu/eval.rs
index 4cc8bdd5..30abad13 100644
--- a/src/backend/cpu/eval.rs
+++ b/src/backend/cpu/eval.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use super::ndarray::*;
 use crate::backend::cpu::kernel;
 use crate::core::{Dtype, Operation, Term};
+use TaggedNdArray::*;
 
 // TODO: this convenience method should live in open_hypergraphs
 use open_hypergraphs::layer::*;
@@ -54,8 +55,6 @@ impl EvalState {
             } => {
                 let (i, j) = (sources[0], sources[1]);
                 let k = targets[0];
-
-                use TaggedNdArray::*;
                 if let Ok([F32(f), F32(g), F32(h)]) = self.data[..].get_disjoint_mut([i, j, k]) {
                     kernel::batch_matmul(f, g, h);
                 } else {
@@ -63,6 +62,19 @@ impl EvalState {
                 }
             }
 
+            Add(_) => {
+                let (i, j) = (sources[0], sources[1]);
+                let k = targets[0];
+
+                if let Ok([F32(a), F32(b), F32(c)]) = self.data[..].get_disjoint_mut([i, j, k]) {
+                    for i in 0..a.data.len() {
+                        c.data[i] = a.data[i] + b.data[i];
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    panic!("invalid types!");
+                }
+            }
+
             // this should be ruled out by typechecking
             op => {
                 panic!("unknown operation {:?}", op);
@@ -95,7 +107,42 @@ impl EvalState {
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod test {
     use super::*;
-    use crate::core::{Dtype, Operation, Shape};
+    use crate::core::{Dtype, NdArrayType, Operation, Shape};
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_add() {
+        let f = Operation::Add(NdArrayType {
+            shape: Shape(vec![2, 2]),
+            dtype: Dtype::F32,
+        })
+        .term();
+
+        let x = NdArray {
+            data: vec![1., 2., 3., 4.],
+            shape: Shape(vec![2, 2]),
+        };
+        let y = NdArray {
+            data: vec![10., 20., 30., 40.],
+            shape: Shape(vec![2, 2]),
+        };
+        let expected = NdArray {
+            data: vec![11., 22., 33., 44.],
+            shape: Shape(vec![2, 2]),
+        };
+
+        let mut state = EvalState::new(f);
+
+        // TODO: fix hack - API for EvalState?
+        state.data[0] = x.into();
+        state.data[1] = y.into();
+
+        let [actual] = state.eval()[..] else {
+            panic!("unexpected coarity at eval time")
+        };
+
+        let tagged: TaggedNdArray = expected.into();
+        assert_eq!(&tagged, actual);
+    }
 
     #[test]
     fn test_mat_mul() {
diff --git a/src/core/operation.rs b/src/core/operation.rs
index f4569da0..786a0c8a 100644
--- a/src/core/operation.rs
+++ b/src/core/operation.rs
@@ -16,18 +16,25 @@ pub enum Operation {
     },
 
     /// Broadcast a value of shape x to one of shape n+x.
-    Broadcast {
-        n: Shape,
-        x: NdArrayType,
-    },
+    Broadcast { n: Shape, x: NdArrayType },
 
     /// Reshape a
-    Reshape {
-        x: NdArrayType,
-        y: NdArrayType,
-    },
+    Reshape { x: NdArrayType, y: NdArrayType },
 
+    /// Create a copy
     Copy(NdArrayType),
+
+    /// Pointwise addition of two values of similar shapes
+    Add(NdArrayType),
+
+    /// Pointwise subtraction of two values of similar shapes
+    Sub(NdArrayType),
+
+    /// Pointwise multiplication of two values of similar shapes
+    Mul(NdArrayType),
+
+    /// Pointwise negation of value
+    Negate(NdArrayType),
 }
 
 pub type Term = OpenHypergraph<PrimitiveType, Operation>;
@@ -79,6 +86,14 @@ impl Operation {
             Reshape { x, y } => (vec![x.clone()], vec![y.clone()]),
 
             Copy(x) => (vec![x.clone()], vec![x.clone(), x.clone()]),
+
+            Add(x) => (vec![x.clone(), x.clone()], vec![x.clone()]),
+
+            Sub(x) => (vec![x.clone(), x.clone()], vec![x.clone()]),
+
+            Mul(x) => (vec![x.clone(), x.clone()], vec![x.clone()]),
+
+            Negate(x) => (vec![x.clone()], vec![x.clone()]),
         }
     }