English

Degrees of the finite model property: the antidichotomy theorem

Logic 2025-02-10 v2

Abstract

A classic result in modal logic, known as the Blok Dichotomy Theorem, states that the degree of incompleteness of a normal extension of the basic modal logic K\sf K is 11 or 202^{\aleph_0}. It is a long-standing open problem whether Blok Dichotomy holds for normal extensions of other prominent modal logics (such as S4\sf S4 or K4\sf K4) or for extensions of the intuitionistic propositional calculus IPC\mathsf{IPC}. In this paper, we introduce the notion of the degree of finite model property (fmp), which is a natural variation of the degree of incompleteness. It is a consequence of Blok Dichotomy Theorem that the degree of fmp of a normal extension of K\sf K remains 11 or 202^{\aleph_0}. In contrast, our main result establishes the following Antidichotomy Theorem for the degree of fmp for extensions of IPC\mathsf{IPC}: each nonzero cardinal κ\kappa such that κ0\kappa \leq \aleph_0 or κ=20\kappa = 2^{\aleph_0} is realized as the degree of fmp of some extension of IPC\mathsf{IPC}. We then use the Blok-Esakia theorem to establish the same Antidichotomy Theorem for normal extensions of S4\sf S4 and K4\sf K4.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2307.07209,
  title  = {Degrees of the finite model property: the antidichotomy theorem},
  author = {Guram Bezhanishvili and Nick Bezhanishvili and Tommaso Moraschini},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.07209},
  year   = {2025}
}