English

A choice-free proof of Mal'cev's theorem on quasivarieties

Logic 2025-09-23 v1

Abstract

In 1966, Mal'cev proved that a class K\mathcal{K} of first-order structures with a specified signature is a quasivariety if and only if K\mathcal{K} contains a unit and is closed under isomorphisms, substructures, and reduced products. In this article, we present a proof of this theorem in ZF\mathsf{ZF} (the Zermelo--Fraenkel set theory without the axiom of choice).

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Cite

@article{arxiv.2501.00766,
  title  = {A choice-free proof of Mal'cev's theorem on quasivarieties},
  author = {Guozhen Shen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.00766},
  year   = {2025}
}

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5 pages