English

Semantics and Proof Theory of the Epsilon Calculus

Logic 2022-01-31 v1

Abstract

The epsilon operator is a term-forming operator which replaces quantifiers in ordinary predicate logic. The application of this undervalued formalism has been hampered by the absence of well-behaved proof systems on the one hand, and accessible presentations of its theory on the other. One significant early result for the original axiomatic proof system for the epsilon-calculus is the first epsilon theorem, for which a proof is sketched. The system itself is discussed, also relative to possible semantic interpretations. The problems facing the development of proof-theoretically well-behaved systems are outlined.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1610.06289,
  title  = {Semantics and Proof Theory of the Epsilon Calculus},
  author = {Richard Zach},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1610.06289},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1411.3629