Related papers: On two problems from "Hyperidentities and Clones"
We explore new interactions between finite model theory and classical streams of universal algebra and semigroup theory. A key result is an example of finite algebras whose variety is not finitely axiomatisable in first order logic, but…
Two first-order logic theories are definitionally equivalent if and only if there is a bijection between their model classes that preserves isomorphisms and ultraproducts (Theorem 2). This is a variant of a prior theorem of van Benthem and…
We consider an extension of the unary negation fragment of first-order logic in which arbitrarily many binary symbols may be required to be interpreted as equivalence relations. We show that this extension has the finite model property.…
We show, assuming PD, that every complete finitely axiomatized second order theory with a countable model is categorical, but that there is, assuming again PD, a complete recursively axiomatized second order theory with a countable model…
We consider the problem of characterizing isomorphisms of types, or, equivalently, constructive cardinality of sets, in the simultaneous presence of disjoint unions, Cartesian products, and exponentials. Mostly relying on results about…
It is known that if every group satisfying an identity of the form yx ~ xU(x,y)y is abelian, so is every semigroup that satisfies that identity. Because a group has an identity element and the cancellation property, it is easier to show…
We consider the complexity of deciding membership of a given finite semigroup to a fixed pseudovariety. While it is known that there exist pseudovarieties with NP-complete or even undecidable membership problems, for many well-known…
We study the finitary satisfiability problem for first order logic with two variables and two binary relations, corresponding to the induced successor relations of two finite linear orders. We show that the problem is decidable in NEXPTIME.
We resolve the strong Elementary Equivalence versus Isomorphism Problem for finitely generated fields. That is, we show that for every field in this class there is a first-order sentence which characterizes this field within the class up to…
We define a fragment of monadic infinitary second-order logic corresponding to an abstract separation property. We use this to define the concept of a separation subclass. We use model theoretic techniques and games to show that separation…
In this paper, we show that the class of representable residuated semigroups has the finite representation property. That is, every finite representable residuated semigroup is representable over a finite base. This result gives a positive…
We consider countable so-called rich subsemigroups of (\omega\omega,\circ); each such semigroup $T$ gives a variety CPEA_T that is axiomatizable by a finite schema of equations taken in a countable subsignature of that of \omega-dimensional…
We consider the two-variable fragment of first-order logic with one distinguished binary predicate constrained to be interpreted as a transitive relation. The finite satisfiability problem for this logic is shown to be decidable, in triply…
We prove that the problems of representing a finite ordered complemented semigroup or finite lattice-ordered semigroup as an algebra of binary relations over a finite set are undecidable. In the case that complementation is taken with…
The paper is a first of two and aims to show that (assuming large cardinals) set theory is a tractable (and we dare to say tame) first order theory when formalized in a first order signature with natural predicate symbols for the basic…
Representable implication algebras are known to be axiomatised by a finite number of equations (making the representation and finite representation problems decidable here). We show that this also holds in the context of unary (and binary)…
It is known that there exists a first-order sentence that holds in a finite group if and only if the group is soluble. Here it is shown that the corresponding statements with 'solubility' replaced by 'nilpotence' and 'perfectness', among…
We study the Identity Problem, the problem of determining if a finitely generated semigroup of matrices contains the identity matrix; see Problem 3 (Chapter 10.3) in ``Unsolved Problems in Mathematical Systems and Control Theory'' by…
We study pseudorandomness and pseudorandom generators from the perspective of logical definability. Building on results from ordinary derandomization and finite model theory, we show that it is possible to deterministically construct, in…
Altenbernd, Thomas and W\"ohrle have considered acceptance of languages of infinite two-dimensional words (infinite pictures) by finite tiling systems, with usual acceptance conditions, such as the B\"uchi and Muller ones [1]. It was proved…