We say that a first order formula Φ distinguishes a structure M over a vocabulary L from another structure M′ over the same vocabulary if Φ is true on M but false on M′. A formula Φ defines an L-structure M if Φ distinguishes M from any other non-isomorphic L-structure M′. A formula Φ identifies an n-element L-structure M if Φ distinguishes M from any other non-isomorphic n-element L-structure M′.

We prove that every n-element structure M is identifiable by a formula with quantifier rank less than and at most one quantifier alternation, where k is the maximum relation arity of M. Moreover, if the automorphism group of M contains no transposition of two elements, the same result holds for definability rather than identification.

The Bernays-Schönfinkel class consists of prenex formulas in which the existential quantifiers all precede the universal quantifiers. We prove that every n-element structure M is identifiable by a formula in the Bernays-Schönfinkel class with less than quantifiers. If in this class of identifying formulas we restrict the number of universal quantifiers to k, then less than quantifiers suffice to identify M and. as long as we keep the number of universal quantifiers bounded by a constant, at total quantifiers are necessary.

We prove that no computable tree of infinite height is computably categorical, and indeed that all such trees have computable dimension ω. Moreover, this dimension is effectively ω, in the sense that given any effective listing of computable presentations of the same tree, we can effectively find another computable presentation of it which is not computably isomorphic to any of the presentations on the list.

In this paper we devise some technical tools for dealing with problems connected with the philosophical view usually called mathematical instrumentalism. These tools are interesting in their own right, independently of their philosophical consequences. For example, we show that even though the fragment of Peanos Arithmetic known as IΣ1 is a conservative extension of the equational theory of Primitive Recursive Arithmetic (PRA). IΣ1 has a super-exponential speed-up over PRA. On the other hand, theories studied in the Program of Reverse Mathematics that formalize powerful mathematical principles have only polynomial speed-up over IΣ1.

§1. Introduction. The basic problem of inner model theory is how to construct mice satisfying hypotheses appreciably stronger than “there is a Woodin limit of Woodin cardinals”. We have a family of constructions, the Kc-constructions, which ought to produce such mice under the appropriate hypotheses on V. Perhaps the most important thing we lack is a proof that the countable elementary submodels of premice produced by a Kc-construction are ω1 + 1-iterable. The best partial results in this direction are those of Neeman ([4]) for Kc-constructions making use of full background extenders over V, and those of Andretta, Neeman, and Steel ([1]) for arbitrary Kc-constructions.

Let be a countable premouse embedded by π into a level of the Kc-construction ℂ. If ℂ uses only full extenders over V as its background extenders, then π and ℂ enable one to lift an evolving iteration tree on to an iteration tree * on V. (See [3, §12].) The good behavior of * guarantees that of . The natural conjecture here is that V is ω1 + 1-iterable with respect to such trees* by the strategy of choosing the unique wellfounded branch. The open question here is uniqueness, since by [2] the uniqueness of the wellfounded branch chosen by * at limit stages strictly less than λ implies the existence of a wellfounded branch to be chosen at λ.

We prove that an intermediate predicate logic characterized by a class of finite partially ordered sets is recursively axiomatizable iff it is “finite”, i.e., iff it is characterized by a single finite partially ordered set. Therefore, the predicate logic LFin of the class of all predicate Kripke frames with finitely many possible worlds is not recursively axiomatizable.

We propose a logic for reasoning about metric spaces with the induced topologies. It combines the ‘qualitative’ interior and closure operators with ‘quantitative’ operators ‘somewhere in the sphere of radius r’ including or excluding the boundary. We supply the logic with both the intended metric space semantics and a natural relational semantics, and show that the latter (i) provides finite partial representations of (in general) infinite metric models and (ii) reduces the standard ‘ε-definitions’ of closure and interior to simple constraints on relations. These features of the relational semantics suggest a finite axiomatisation of the logic and provide means to prove its EXPTIME-completeness (even if the rational numerical parameters are coded in binary). An extension with metric variables satisfying linear rational (in)equalities is proved to be decidable as well. Our logic can be regarded as a ‘well-behaved’ common denominator of logical systems constructed in temporal, spatial, and similarity-based quantitative and qualitative representation and reasoning. Interpreted on the real line (with its Euclidean metric), it is a natural fragment of decidable temporal logics for specification and verification of real-time systems. On the real plane, it is closely related to quantitative and qualitative formalisms for spatial representation and reasoning, but this time the logic becomes undecidable.

Baizhanov and Baldwin [1] introduce the notions of benign and weakly benign sets to investigate the preservation of stability by naming arbitrary subsets of a stable structure. They connect the notion with work of Baldwin, Benedikt, Bouscaren, Casanovas, Poizat, and Ziegler. Stimulated by [1], we investigate here the existence of benign or weakly benign sets.

Definition 0.1. (1) The set A is benign in M if for every α, β ∊ M if p = tp(α/A) = tp(β/A) then tp*(α/A) = tp*(β/A) where the *-type is the type in the language L* with a new predicate P denoting A.

(2) The set A is weakly benign in M if for every α,β ∊ M if p = stp(α/A) = stp(β/A) then tp*(α/A) = tp*(β/A) where the *-type is the type in language with a new predicate P denoting A.

Conjecture 0.2 (too optimistic). If M is a model of stable theory T and A ⊆ M then A is benign.

Shelah observed, after learning of the Baizhanov-Baldwin reductions of the problem to equivalence relations, the following counterexample.

Lemma 0.3. There is an ω-stable rank 2 theory T with ndop which has a model M and set A such that A is not benign in M.

We investigate logical consequence in temporal logics in terms of logical consecutions, i.e., inference rules. First, we discuss the question: what does it mean for a logical consecution to be ‘correct’ in a propositional logic. We consider both valid and admissible consecutions in linear temporal logics and discuss the distinction between these two notions. The linear temporal logic LDTL, consisting of all formulas valid in the frame 〈L ≤, ≥〉 of all integer numbers, is the prime object of our investigation. We describe consecutions admissible in LDTL in a semantic way—via consecutions valid in special temporal Kripke/Hintikka models. Then we state that any temporal inference rule has a reduced normal form which is given in terms of uniform formulas of temporal degree 1. Using these facts and enhanced semantic techniques we construct an algorithm, which recognizes consecutions admissible in LDTL. Also, we note that using the same technique it follows that the linear temporal logic L(N) of all natural numbers is also decidable w.r.t. inference rules. So, we prove that both logics LDTL and L(N) are decidable w.r.t. admissible consecutions. In particular, as a consequence, they both are decidable (known fact), and the given deciding algorithms are explicit.

We characterize the structure of computably categorical trees of finite height, and prove that our criterion is both necessary and sufficient. Intuitively, the characterization is easiest to express in terms of isomorphisms of (possibly infinite) trees, but in fact it is equivalent to a -condition. We show that all trees which are not computably categorical have computable dimension ω. Finally, we prove that for every n ≥ 1 in ω, there exists a computable tree of finite height which is Σ30-categorical but not Δn3-categorical

We prove that under reasonable assumptions, every cat (compact abstract theory) is metric, and develop some of the theory of metric cats. We generalise Morley's theorem: if a countable Hausdorff cat T has a unique complete model of density character λ ≥ ω, then it has a unique complete model of density character λ for every λ ≥ ω.

Let F be the class of complete, finitely axiomatizable ω-categorical theories. It is not known whether there are simple theories in F. We prove three results of the form: if T ∈ F has a sufficently well-behaved definable set J, then T is not simple. (In one case, we actually prove that T has the strict order property.) All of our arguments assume that the definable set J satisfies the Mazoyer hypothesis, which controls how an element of J can be algebraic over a subset of the model. For every known example in F, there is a definable set satisfying the Mazoyer hypothesis.

Let TP be the theory obtained by adding a generic predicate to an o-minimal theory T. We prove that if T admits elimination of imaginaries, then TP also admits elimination of imaginaries.

The concept of elementary epimorphism is introduced. Inverse systems of such maps are considered, and a dual of the elementary chain lemma is found (Cor. 4.2). The same is done for pure epimorphisms (Cor. 4.3 and 4.4). Finally, this is applied to certain inverse limits of flat modules (Thm. 6.4) and certain inverse limits of absolutely pure modules (Cor. 6.3).

Kummer's Cardinality Theorem states that a language A must be recursive if a Turing machine can exclude for any n words , …, one of the n + 1 possibilities for the cardinality of {, …, }⋂ A. There was good reason to believe that this theorem is a peculiarity of recursion theory: neither the Cardinality Theorem nor weak forms of it hold for resource-bounded computational models like polynomial time. This belief may be flawed. In this paper it is shown that weak cardinality theorems hold for finite automata and also for other models. An explanation is proposed as to why recursion-theoretic and automata-theoretic weak cardinality theorems hold, but not corresponding 'middle-ground theorems': The recursion- and automata-theoretic weak cardinality theorems are instantiations of purely logical weak cardinality theorems. The logical theorems can be instantiated for logical structures characterizing recursive computations and finite automata computations. A corresponding structure characterizing polynomial time computations does not exist.

We show that a Kueker simple theory eliminates ∃∞ and densely interprets weakly minimal formulas. As part of the proof we generalize Hrushovski's dichotomy for almost complete formulas to simple theories. We conclude that in a unidimensional simple theory an almost-complete formula is either weakly minimal or trivially-almost-complete. We also observe that a small unidimensional simple theory is supersimple of finite SU-rank.

We show that infinite sets whose power-sets are Dedekind-finite can only carry ℵ0-categorical first order structures. We identify other subclasses of this class of Dedekind-finite sets, and discuss their possible first order structures.

Several extensions of the basic modal language are characterized in terms of interpolation. Our main results are of the following form: Language L′ is the least expressive extension of L with interpolation. For instance, let ℳ(D) be the extension of the basic modal language with a difference operator [7], First-order logic is the least expressive extension of ℳ(D) with interpolation. These characterizations are subsequently used to derive new results about hybrid logic, relation algebra and the guarded fragment.

Natural deduction systems with indefinite and definite descriptions (ε-terms and ι-terms) are presented, and interpreted in Martin-LÖf's intensional type theory. The interpretations are formalizations of ideas which are implicit in the literature of constructive mathematics: if we have proved that an element with a certain property exists, we speak of ‘the element such that the property holds’ and refer by that phrase to the element constructed in the existence proof. In particular, we deviate from the practice of interpreting descriptions by contextual definitions.

This article will study a class of deduction systems that allow for a limited use of the modus ponens method of deduction. We will show that it is possible to devise axiom systems α that can recognize their consistency under a deduction system D provided that: (1) α treats multiplication as a 3-way relation (rather than as a total function), and that (2) D does not allow for the use of a modus ponens methodology above essentially the levels of Π1 and Σ1 formulae.

Part of what will make this boundary-case exception to the Second Incompleteness Theorem interesting is that we will also characterize generalizations of the Second Incompleteness Theorem that take force when we only slightly weaken the assumptions of our boundary-case exceptions in any of several further directions.

Following the book Algebraic Set Theory from André Joyal and Ieke Moerdijk [8], we give a characterization of the initial ZF-algebra, for Heyting pretoposes equipped with a class of small maps. Then, an application is considered (the effective topos) to show how to recover an already known model (McCarty [9]).