Combining Enumeration and Deductive Techniques in order to Increase the Class of Constructible Infinite Models

AbstractA new method for building infinite models for first-order formulae is presented. The method combines enumeration techniques with existing deductive (in a broad sense) ones. Its soundness and completeness w.r.t. the class of models that can be represented by equational constraints are proven. This shows that the use of enumeration techniques strictly increases the power of existing methods for building Herbrand models that are not complete in this sense. Some strategies are proposed to reduce the search space. We give examples and show how to use this approach for building interactively a model of a formula introduced by Goldfarb in his proof of the undecidability of the Gödel class with identity. This formula is satisfiable but has no finite model