English

Induction on Dilators and Bachmann-Howard Fixed Points

Logic 2024-12-18 v1

Abstract

One of the most important principles of J.-Y. Girard's Π21\Pi^1_2-logic is induction on dilators. In particular, Girard used this principle to construct his famous functor Λ\Lambda. He claimed that the totality of Λ\Lambda is equivalent to the set existence axiom of Π11\Pi^1_1-comprehension from reverse mathematics. While Girard provided a plausible description of a proof around 1980, it seems that the very technical details have not been worked out to this day. A few years ago, a loosely related approach led to an equivalence between Π11\Pi^1_1-comprehension and a certain Bachmann-Howard principle. The present paper closes the circle. We relate the Bachmann-Howard principle to induction on dilators. This allows us to show that Π11\Pi^1_1-comprehension is equivalent to the totality of a functor J\mathbb J due to P. P\"appinghaus, which can be seen as a streamlined version of Λ\Lambda.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2412.13051,
  title  = {Induction on Dilators and Bachmann-Howard Fixed Points},
  author = {Juan P. Aguilera and Anton Freund and Andreas Weiermann},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2412.13051},
  year   = {2024}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T20:39:04.844Z