11,361 research outputs found
Essential Incompleteness of Arithmetic Verified by Coq
A constructive proof of the Goedel-Rosser incompleteness theorem has been
completed using the Coq proof assistant. Some theory of classical first-order
logic over an arbitrary language is formalized. A development of primitive
recursive functions is given, and all primitive recursive functions are proved
to be representable in a weak axiom system. Formulas and proofs are encoded as
natural numbers, and functions operating on these codes are proved to be
primitive recursive. The weak axiom system is proved to be essentially
incomplete. In particular, Peano arithmetic is proved to be consistent in Coq's
type theory and therefore is incomplete.Comment: This paper is part of the proceedings of the 18th International
Conference on Theorem Proving in Higher Order Logics (TPHOLs 2005). For the
associated Coq source files see the TeX sources, or see
<http://r6.ca/Goedel20050512.tar.gz
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
Perspectives for proof unwinding by programming languages techniques
In this chapter, we propose some future directions of work, potentially
beneficial to Mathematics and its foundations, based on the recent import of
methodology from the theory of programming languages into proof theory. This
scientific essay, written for the audience of proof theorists as well as the
working mathematician, is not a survey of the field, but rather a personal view
of the author who hopes that it may inspire future and fellow researchers
Consequences of a Goedel's misjudgment
The fundamental aim of the paper is to correct an harmful way to interpret a
Goedel's erroneous remark at the Congress of Koenigsberg in 1930. Despite the
Goedel's fault is rather venial, its misreading has produced and continues to
produce dangerous fruits, as to apply the incompleteness Theorems to the full
second-order Arithmetic and to deduce the semantic incompleteness of its
language by these same Theorems. The first three paragraphs are introductory
and serve to define the languages inherently semantic and its properties, to
discuss the consequences of the expression order used in a language and some
question about the semantic completeness: in particular is highlighted the fact
that a non-formal theory may be semantically complete despite using a language
semantically incomplete. Finally, an alternative interpretation of the Goedel's
unfortunate comment is proposed. KEYWORDS: semantic completeness, syntactic
incompleteness, categoricity, arithmetic, second-order languages, paradoxesComment: English version, 19 pages. Fixed and improved terminolog
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