Related papers: On the variable hierarchy of first-order spectra

The Scott rank of a countable structure is a measure, coming from the proof of Scott's isomorphism theorem, of the complexity of that structure. The Scott spectrum of a theory (by which we mean a sentence of $\mathcal{L}_{\omega_1 \omega}$)…

In a compact topological dynamical system $(X,f)$, we associate to every pair $(x,y)$ a canonical order-theoretic invariant, its emergent order spectrum $\Omega(x,y)$. We first prove that, if $x$ and $y$ are chain-related, one can always…

We characterize the languages in the individual levels of the quantifier alternation hierarchy of first-order logic with two variables by identities. This implies decidability of the individual levels. More generally we show that the…

A natural framework for real-time specification is monadic first-order logic over the structure $(\mathbb{R},<,+1)$---the ordered real line with unary $+1$ function. Our main result is that $(\mathbb{R},<,+1)$ has the 3-variable property:…

Call a semantics for a language with variables absolute when variables map to fixed entities in the denotation. That is, a semantics is absolute when the denotation of a variable a is a copy of itself in the denotation. We give a trio of…

Contemporary semantic description of logic is based on the ontology of all possible interpretations, an insufficiently clear metaphysical concept. In this article, logic is described as the internal organization of language. Logical…

The set A = {a_n} of nonnegative integers is an asymptotic basis of order h if every sufficiently large integer can be represented as the sum of h elements of A. If a_n ~ alpha n^h for some real number alpha > 0, then alpha is called an…

Separations among the first order logic ${\cal R}ing(0,+,*)$ of finite residue class rings, its extensions with generalized quantifiers, and in the presence of a built-in order are shown, using algebraic methods from class field theory.…

Predicate logic is the premier choice for specifying classes of relational structures. Homomorphisms are key to describing correspondences between relational structures. Questions concerning the interdependencies between these two means of…

The celebrated Trakhtenbrot's theorem states that the set of finitely valid sentences of first-order logic is not computably enumerable. In this note we will extend this theorem by proving that the finite satisfiability problem of any…

The spectrum $\omega(G)$ is the set of orders of elements of $G$. We consider the problem of generating the spectrum of a finite nonabelian simple group $G$ given by the degree of $G$ if $G$ is an alternating group, or the Lie type, Lie…

We present initial limit Datalog, a new extensible class of constrained Horn clauses for which the satisfiability problem is decidable. The class may be viewed as a generalisation to higher-order logic (with a simple restriction on types)…

Lin and Zhaos theorem on loop formulas states that in the propositional case the stable model semantics of a logic program can be completely characterized by propositional loop formulas, but this result does not fully carry over to the…

First-order logic is the basis for many knowledge representation formalisms and methods. Providing technological support for learning to write first-order formulas for natural language specifications requires methods to test formulas for…

The uniform one-dimensional fragment of first-order logic, U1, is a formalism that extends two-variable logic in a natural way to contexts with relations of all arities. We survey properties of U1 and investigate its relationship to…

The dot-depth hierarchy is a classification of star-free languages. It is related to the quantifier alternation hierarchy of first-order logic over finite words. We consider fragments of languages with dot-depth 1/2 and dot-depth 1 obtained…

A first-order theory is equational if every definable set is a Boolean combination of instances of equations, that is, of formulae such that the family of finite intersections of instances has the descending chain condition. Equationality…

In an early paper, Immerman raised a proposal on developing model-theoretic techniques to prove lower bounds on ordered structures, which represents a long-standing challenge in finite model theory. An iconic question standing for such a…

We demonstrate that any $\Pi_\alpha$ sentence of the infinitary logic $L_{\omega_1 \omega}$ extending the theory of linear orderings has a model with a $\Pi_{\alpha+4}$ Scott sentence and hence of Scott rank at most $\alpha+3$. In other…

The bivariate difference field provides an algebraic framework for a sequence satisfying a recurrence of order two. Based on this, we focus on sequences satisfying a recurrence of higher order, and consider the multivariate difference…