64 research outputs found
The Modal Logic of Stepwise Removal
We investigate the modal logic of stepwise removal of objects, both for its
intrinsic interest as a logic of quantification without replacement, and as a
pilot study to better understand the complexity jumps between dynamic epistemic
logics of model transformations and logics of freely chosen graph changes that
get registered in a growing memory. After introducing this logic
() and its corresponding removal modality, we analyze its
expressive power and prove a bisimulation characterization theorem. We then
provide a complete Hilbert-style axiomatization for the logic of stepwise
removal in a hybrid language enriched with nominals and public announcement
operators. Next, we show that model-checking for is
PSPACE-complete, while its satisfiability problem is undecidable. Lastly, we
consider an issue of fine-structure: the expressive power gained by adding the
stepwise removal modality to fragments of first-order logic
Changing a semantics: opportunism or courage?
The generalized models for higher-order logics introduced by Leon Henkin, and
their multiple offspring over the years, have become a standard tool in many
areas of logic. Even so, discussion has persisted about their technical status,
and perhaps even their conceptual legitimacy. This paper gives a systematic
view of generalized model techniques, discusses what they mean in mathematical
and philosophical terms, and presents a few technical themes and results about
their role in algebraic representation, calibrating provability, lowering
complexity, understanding fixed-point logics, and achieving set-theoretic
absoluteness. We also show how thinking about Henkin's approach to semantics of
logical systems in this generality can yield new results, dispelling the
impression of adhocness. This paper is dedicated to Leon Henkin, a deep
logician who has changed the way we all work, while also being an always open,
modest, and encouraging colleague and friend.Comment: 27 pages. To appear in: The life and work of Leon Henkin: Essays on
his contributions (Studies in Universal Logic) eds: Manzano, M., Sain, I. and
Alonso, E., 201
Distilling the requirements of Gödel’s incompleteness theorems with a proof assistant
We present an abstract development of Gödel’s incompleteness theorems, performed with the help of the Isabelle/HOL proof assistant. We analyze sufficient conditions for the applicability of our theorems to a partially specified logic. In addition to the usual benefits of generality, our abstract perspective enables a comparison between alternative approaches from the literature. These include Rosser’s variation of the first theorem, Jeroslow’s variation of the second theorem, and the Świerczkowski–Paulson semantics-based approach. As part of the validation of our framework, we upgrade Paulson’s Isabelle proof to produce a mechanization of the second theorem that does not assume soundness in the standard model, and in fact does not rely on any notion of model or semantic interpretation
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