English

Baire category theory and Hilbert's Tenth Problem inside $\mathbb{Q}$

Logic 2016-02-11 v1 Number Theory

Abstract

For a ring R, Hilbert's Tenth Problem HTP(R) is the set of polynomial equations over R, in several variables, with solutions in R. We consider computability of this set for subrings R of the rationals. Applying Baire category theory to these subrings, which naturally form a topological space, relates their sets HTP(R) to the set HTP(Q\mathbb{Q}), whose decidability remains an open question. The main result is that, for an arbitrary set C, HTP(Q\mathbb{Q}) computes C if and only if the subrings R for which HTP(R) computes C form a nonmeager class. Similar results hold for 1-reducibility, for admitting a Diophantine model of Z\mathbb{Z}, and for existential definability of Z\mathbb{Z}.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1602.03239,
  title  = {Baire category theory and Hilbert's Tenth Problem inside $\mathbb{Q}$},
  author = {Russell Miller},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1602.03239},
  year   = {2016}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-22T12:47:15.896Z