English

Strong negation in the theory of computable functionals TCF

Logic 2025-04-09 v8 Logic in Computer Science

Abstract

We incorporate strong negation in the theory of computable functionals TCF, a common extension of Plotkin's PCF and G\"{o}del's system T\mathbf{T}, by defining simultaneously strong negation ANA^{\mathbf{N}} of a formula AA and strong negation PNP^{\mathbf{N}} of a predicate PP in TCF. As a special case of the latter, we get strong negation of an inductive and a coinductive predicate of TCF. We prove appropriate versions of the Ex falso quodlibet and of double negation elimination for strong negation in TCF. We introduce the so-called tight formulas of TCF i.e., formulas implied by the weak negation of their strong negation, and the relative tight formulas. We present various case-studies and examples, which reveal the naturality of our definition of strong negation in TCF and justify the use of TCF as a formal system for a large part of Bishop-style constructive mathematics.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2210.05491,
  title  = {Strong negation in the theory of computable functionals TCF},
  author = {Nils Köpp and Iosif Petrakis},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2210.05491},
  year   = {2025}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T03:15:14.391Z