Related papers: Are random axioms useful?
In this article we discuss the proof in the short unpublished paper appeared in the 3rd volume of Godel's Collected Works entitled "On undecidable sentences" (*1931?), which provides an introduction to Godel's 1931 ideas regarding the…
In this paper we present a proof of Goodman's Theorem, a classical result in the metamathematics of constructivism, which states that the addition of the axiom of choice to Heyting arithmetic in finite types does not increase the collection…
The inconsistencies involved in the foundation of set theory were invariably caused by infinity and self-reference; and only with the opportune axiomatic restrictions could them be obviated. Throughout history, both concepts have proved to…
Given a first-order theory $T$ formulated in the usual language of first-order arithmetic, we say that $T$ is of *restricted complexity* if there is some natural number $n$ and some set $\mathcal A$ of $\Sigma_n$-sentences such that $T$ can…
We show that the set of all formulas in n variables valid in a finite class A of finite algebras is always a regular tree language, and compute a finite axiom set for A. We give a rational reconstruction of Barzdins' liquid flow algorithm…
Some of the most obviously correct physical theories - namely string theory and the multiverse - make no testable predictions, leading many to question whether we should accept something as scientific even if it makes no testable…
We offer a view of mathematics as an experimental science where axioms play the role of foundational theories like general relativity and quantum mechanics in physics. Under this view, axioms are provisional and inferred from experience…
A meta-complexity assumption, Feasible Chaitin Incompleteness (FCI), asserts the hardness of ruling out length $t$ proofs that string $x$ is Kolmogorov random (e.g. $x{\in}R$), by analogy to Chaitin's result that proving $x{\in}R$ is…
G\"odel's second incompleteness theorem is proved for Herbrand consistency of some arithmetical theories with bounded induction, by using a technique of logarithmic shrinking the witnesses of bounded formulas, due to Z. Adamowicz [Herbrand…
Justification logics are special kinds of modal logics which provide a framework for reasoning about epistemic justifications. For this, they extend classical boolean propositional logic by a family of necessity-style modal operators "t:",…
For which choices of $X,Y,Z\in\{\Sigma^1_1,\Pi^1_1\}$ does no sufficiently strong $X$-sound and $Y$-definable extension theory prove its own $Z$-soundness? We give a complete answer, thereby delimiting the generalizations of G\"odel's…
In his ontological argument G\"{o}del says nothing about its underlying logic. The argument is modal and at least of second-order and since S5 axiom is used so it is widely accepted that the logic of the argument is the S5 second-order…
We generalize the classical definition of effectively closed subshift to finitely generated groups. We study classical stability properties of this class and then extend this notion by allowing the usage of an oracle to the word problem of…
We consider the problem of formalizing the familiar notion of widening in abstract interpretation in higher-order logic. It turns out that many axioms of widening (e.g. widening sequences are ascending) are not useful for proving…
General relativity treats spacetime as dynamical and exhibits its breakdown at singularities. This failure is interpreted as evidence that quantum gravity is not a theory formulated within spacetime; instead, it must explain the very…
Polymodal provability logic GLP is incomplete w.r.t. Kripke frames. It is known to be complete w.r.t. topological semantics, where the diamond modalities correspond to topological derivative operations. However, the topologies needed for…
Sound exhaustiveness checking of pattern-matching is an essential feature of functional programming languages, and OCaml supports it for GADTs. However this check is incomplete, in that it may fail to detect that a pattern can match no…
Many a concrete theorem of abstract algebra admits a short and elegant proof by contradiction but with Zorn's Lemma (ZL). A few of these theorems have recently turned out to follow in a direct and elementary way from the Principle of Open…
The paper demonstrates that falsifiability is fundamental to learning. We prove the following theorem for statistical learning and sequential prediction: If a theory is falsifiable then it is learnable -- i.e. admits a strategy that…
We deal with the monadic (second-order) theory of order. We prove all known results in a unified way, show a general way of reduction, prove more results and show the limitation on extending them. We prove (CH) that the monadic theory of…