English

Distance structures for generalized metric spaces

Logic 2018-09-11 v3

Abstract

Let R=(R,,,0)\mathcal{R}=(R,\oplus,\leq,0) be an algebraic structure, where \oplus is a commutative binary operation with identity 00, and \leq is a translation-invariant total order with least element 00. Given a distinguished subset SRS\subseteq R, we define the natural notion of a "generalized" R\mathcal{R}-metric space, with distances in SS. We study such metric spaces as first-order structures in a relational language consisting of a distance inequality for each element of SS. We first construct an ordered additive structure S\mathcal{S}^* on the space of quantifier-free 22-types consistent with the axioms of R\mathcal{R}-metric spaces with distances in SS, and show that, if AA is an R\mathcal{R}-metric space with distances in SS, then any model of Th(A)\text{Th}(A) logically inherits a canonical S\mathcal{S}^*-metric. Our primary application of this framework concerns countable, universal, and homogeneous metric spaces, obtained as generalizations of the rational Urysohn space. We adapt previous work of Delhomm\'{e}, Laflamme, Pouzet, and Sauer to fully characterize the existence of such spaces. We then fix a countable totally ordered commutative monoid R\mathcal{R}, with least element 00, and consider UR\mathcal{U}_\mathcal{R}, the countable Urysohn space over R\mathcal{R}. We show that quantifier elimination for Th(UR)\text{Th}(\mathcal{U}_\mathcal{R}) is characterized by continuity of addition in R\mathcal{R}^*, which can be expressed as a first-order sentence of R\mathcal{R} in the language of ordered monoids. Finally, we analyze an example of Casanovas and Wagner in this context.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1502.05002,
  title  = {Distance structures for generalized metric spaces},
  author = {Gabriel Conant},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1502.05002},
  year   = {2018}
}

Comments

30 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-22T08:31:43.041Z