English

Revisiting the generalized {\L}o\'s-Tarski theorem

Logic in Computer Science 2018-11-16 v1

Abstract

We present a new proof of the generalized {\L}o\'s-Tarski theorem (GLT(k)\mathsf{GLT}(k)) introduced in [1], over arbitrary structures. Instead of using λ\lambda-saturation as in [1], we construct just the "required saturation" directly using ascending chains of structures. We also strengthen the failure of GLT(k)\mathsf{GLT}(k) in the finite shown in [2], by strengthening the failure of the {\L}o\'s-Tarski theorem in this context. In particular, we prove that not just universal sentences, but for each fixed kk, even Σ20\Sigma^0_2 sentences containing kk existential quantifiers fail to capture hereditariness in the finite. We conclude with two problems as future directions, concerning the {\L}o\'s-Tarski theorem and GLT(k)\mathsf{GLT}(k), both in the context of all finite structures. [1] 10.1016/j.apal.2015.11.001 ; [2] 10.1007/978-3-642-32621-9\_22

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1811.06459,
  title  = {Revisiting the generalized {\L}o\'s-Tarski theorem},
  author = {Abhisekh Sankaran},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1811.06459},
  year   = {2018}
}

Comments

12 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-23T05:17:15.297Z