English

Herbrand's Fundamental Theorem: The Historical Facts and their Streamlining

Logic 2014-08-15 v2 Logic in Computer Science

Abstract

Using Heijenoort's unpublished generalized rules of quantification, we discuss the proof of Herbrand's Fundamental Theorem in the form of Heijenoort's correction of Herbrand's "False Lemma" and present a didactic example. Although we are mainly concerned with the inner structure of Herbrand's Fundamental Theorem and the questions of its quality and its depth, we also discuss the outer questions of its historical context and why Bernays called it "the central theorem of predicate logic" and considered the form of its expression to be "concise and felicitous".

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1405.6317,
  title  = {Herbrand's Fundamental Theorem: The Historical Facts and their Streamlining},
  author = {Claus-Peter Wirth},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1405.6317},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

ii + 47 pages