A standard model of Peano arithmetic with no conservative elementary extension

AbstractThe principal result of this paper answers a long-standing question in the model theory of arithmetic [R. Kossak, J. Schmerl, The Structure of Models of Peano Arithmetic, Oxford University Press, 2006, Question 7] by showing that there exists an uncountable arithmetically closed family A of subsets of the set ω of natural numbers such that the expansion NA≔(N,A)A∈A of the standard model N≔(ω,+,×) of Peano arithmetic has no conservative elementary extension, i.e., for any elementary extension NA∗=(ω∗,…) of NA, there is a subset of ω∗ that is parametrically definable in NA∗ but whose intersection with ω is not a member of A. We also establish other results that highlight the role of countability in the model theory of arithmetic.Inspired by a recent question of Gitman and Hamkins, we furthermore show that the aforementioned family A can be arranged to further satisfy the curious property that forcing with the quotient Boolean algebra A/FIN (where FIN is the ideal of finite sets) collapses ℵ1 when viewed as a notion of forcing

Categorical characterizations of the natural numbers require primitive recursion

Simpson and the second author asked whether there exists a characterization of the natural numbers by a second-order sentence which is provably categorical in the theory RCA$^*_0$. We answer in the negative, showing that for any characterization of the natural numbers which is provably true in WKL$^*_0$, the categoricity theorem implies $\Sigma^0_1$ induction. On the other hand, we show that RCA$^*_0$ does make it possible to characterize the natural numbers categorically by means of a set of second-order sentences. We also show that a certain $\Pi^1_2$-conservative extension of RCA$^*_0$ admits a provably categorical single-sentence characterization of the naturals, but each such characterization has to be inconsistent with WKL$^*_0$+superexp.Comment: 17 page

The complexity of classification problems for models of arithmetic

We observe that the classification problem for countable models of arithmetic is Borel complete. On the other hand, the classification problems for finitely generated models of arithmetic and for recursively saturated models of arithmetic are Borel; we investigate the precise complexity of each of these. Finally, we show that the classification problem for pairs of recursively saturated models and for automorphisms of a fixed recursively saturated model are Borel complete.Comment: 15 page

Local induction and provably total computable functions

Let I¦− 2 denote the fragment of Peano Arithmetic obtained by restricting the induction scheme to parameter free ¦2 formulas. Answering a question of R. Kaye, L. Beklemishev showed that the provably total computable functions of I¦− 2 are, precisely, the primitive recursive ones. In this work we give a new proof of this fact through an analysis of certain local variants of induction principles closely related to I¦− 2 . In this way, we obtain a more direct answer to Kaye’s question, avoiding the metamathematical machinery (reflection principles, provability logic,...) needed for Beklemishev’s original proof. Our methods are model–theoretic and allow for a general study of I¦− n+1 for all n ¸ 0. In particular, we derive a new conservation result for these theories, namely that I¦− n+1 is ¦n+2–conservative over I§n for each n ¸ 1.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación MTM2008–06435Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación MTM2011–2684