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The reverse mathematics of bounded Ramsey's theorem for pairs

Logic 2025-09-05 v1

Abstract

In this article, we study a degenerate version of Ramsey's theorem for pairs and two colors (RT22\mathsf{RT}^2_2), in which the homogeneous sets for color 1 are of bounded size. By RT22\mathsf{RT}^2_2, it follows that every such coloring admits an infinite homogeneous set for color 0. This statement, called BRT22\mathsf{BRT}^2_2, is known to be computably true, that is, every computable instance admits a computable solution, but the known proofs use Σ20\Sigma^0_2-induction (IΣ20\mathsf{I}\Sigma_2^0). We prove that BRT22\mathsf{BRT}^2_2 follows from the Erd\H{o}s-Moser theorem but not from the Ascending Descending sequence principle, and that its computably true version is equivalent to IΣ20\mathsf{I}\Sigma_2^0 over RCA0\mathsf{RCA}_0.

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Cite

@article{arxiv.2509.03688,
  title  = {The reverse mathematics of bounded Ramsey's theorem for pairs},
  author = {Quentin Le Houérou and Ludovic Patey},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.03688},
  year   = {2025}
}

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31 pages