Absoluteness of the Riemann integral
Abstract
This article explores the concept of absoluteness in the context of mathematical analysis, focusing specifically on the Riemann integral on . In mathematical logic, "absoluteness" refers to the invariance of the truth value of certain statements in different mathematical universes. Leveraging this idea, we investigate the conditions under which the Riemann integral on remains absolute between transitive models of ZFC, the standard axiomatic system in which current mathematics is usually formalized. To this end, we develop a framework for integration on Boolean algebras with respect to finitely additive measures and show that the classical Riemann integral is a particular case of this generalized approach. Our main result establishes that the Riemann integral over rectangles in is absolute in the following sense: if are transitive models of ZFC, , and is a bounded function in , then is Riemann integrable in if, and only if, in there exists some Riemann integrable function extending . In this case, the values of the integrals computed in each model are the same. Furthermore, the function is unique except for a measure zero set.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2503.08799,
title = {Absoluteness of the Riemann integral},
author = {Carlos M. Parra-Londoño and Andrés F. Uribe-Zapata},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.08799},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
23 pages, 2 figures