55 research outputs found
Hilbert's "Verunglueckter Beweis," the first epsilon theorem, and consistency proofs
In the 1920s, Ackermann and von Neumann, in pursuit of Hilbert's Programme,
were working on consistency proofs for arithmetical systems. One proposed
method of giving such proofs is Hilbert's epsilon-substitution method. There
was, however, a second approach which was not reflected in the publications of
the Hilbert school in the 1920s, and which is a direct precursor of Hilbert's
first epsilon theorem and a certain 'general consistency result' due to
Bernays. An analysis of the form of this so-called 'failed proof' sheds further
light on an interpretation of Hilbert's Programme as an instrumentalist
enterprise with the aim of showing that whenever a `real' proposition can be
proved by 'ideal' means, it can also be proved by 'real', finitary means.Comment: 18 pages, final versio
An Intuitionistic Formula Hierarchy Based on High-School Identities
We revisit the notion of intuitionistic equivalence and formal proof
representations by adopting the view of formulas as exponential polynomials.
After observing that most of the invertible proof rules of intuitionistic
(minimal) propositional sequent calculi are formula (i.e. sequent) isomorphisms
corresponding to the high-school identities, we show that one can obtain a more
compact variant of a proof system, consisting of non-invertible proof rules
only, and where the invertible proof rules have been replaced by a formula
normalisation procedure.
Moreover, for certain proof systems such as the G4ip sequent calculus of
Vorob'ev, Hudelmaier, and Dyckhoff, it is even possible to see all of the
non-invertible proof rules as strict inequalities between exponential
polynomials; a careful combinatorial treatment is given in order to establish
this fact.
Finally, we extend the exponential polynomial analogy to the first-order
quantifiers, showing that it gives rise to an intuitionistic hierarchy of
formulas, resembling the classical arithmetical hierarchy, and the first one
that classifies formulas while preserving isomorphism
Hilbert's Program Then and Now
Hilbert's program was an ambitious and wide-ranging project in the philosophy
and foundations of mathematics. In order to "dispose of the foundational
questions in mathematics once and for all, "Hilbert proposed a two-pronged
approach in 1921: first, classical mathematics should be formalized in
axiomatic systems; second, using only restricted, "finitary" means, one should
give proofs of the consistency of these axiomatic systems. Although Godel's
incompleteness theorems show that the program as originally conceived cannot be
carried out, it had many partial successes, and generated important advances in
logical theory and meta-theory, both at the time and since. The article
discusses the historical background and development of Hilbert's program, its
philosophical underpinnings and consequences, and its subsequent development
and influences since the 1930s.Comment: 43 page
Relevant Arithmetic
This is a republication of R.K. Meyer's "Relevant Arithmetic", which originally appeared in the Bulletin of the Section of Logic 5 (1976). It sets out the problems that Meyer was to work on for the next decade concerning his system, R#
Relevant Arithmetic
This is a republication of R.K. Meyer's "Relevant Arithmetic", which originally appeared in the Bulletin of the Section of Logic 5 (1976). It sets out the problems that Meyer was to work on for the next decade concerning his system, R#
Computational reverse mathematics and foundational analysis
Reverse mathematics studies which subsystems of second order arithmetic are
equivalent to key theorems of ordinary, non-set-theoretic mathematics. The main
philosophical application of reverse mathematics proposed thus far is
foundational analysis, which explores the limits of different foundations for
mathematics in a formally precise manner. This paper gives a detailed account
of the motivations and methodology of foundational analysis, which have
heretofore been largely left implicit in the practice. It then shows how this
account can be fruitfully applied in the evaluation of major foundational
approaches by a careful examination of two case studies: a partial realization
of Hilbert's program due to Simpson [1988], and predicativism in the extended
form due to Feferman and Sch\"{u}tte.
Shore [2010, 2013] proposes that equivalences in reverse mathematics be
proved in the same way as inequivalences, namely by considering only
-models of the systems in question. Shore refers to this approach as
computational reverse mathematics. This paper shows that despite some
attractive features, computational reverse mathematics is inappropriate for
foundational analysis, for two major reasons. Firstly, the computable
entailment relation employed in computational reverse mathematics does not
preserve justification for the foundational programs above. Secondly,
computable entailment is a complete relation, and hence employing it
commits one to theoretical resources which outstrip those available within any
foundational approach that is proof-theoretically weaker than
.Comment: Submitted. 41 page
- …