Let me explicate fuller details about why the computable surreal numbers form a fieldnumber operations. Let's start by showing that they form a ring.
LemmaTheorem. The computable surreal numbers form a ring.
To get that the computable surreals are a field, we would need division. For reciprocal and division, see the formula on the Wikipedia entry. Notice that for positive $y$ the formula is applied only with positive values of $y_L$, and so we would seem to need to be able to compute the order.
Theorem. The I had posted initially that the order relation $x<y$ on computable surreal numbers is computably enumerable, given that $x$ and $y$ are computable surreal numbers. That is, this is the restriction ofwas a c.e. relation to the set of programs that represent computable surreal numbers.
Proof. The order relation $x<y$ holds if and only if $x<y_L$ for some $y_L$ in the left set of $y$ or $x_R<y$ for some $x_R$ in the right set of $x$. This might again look computably insurmountable, since one might expect to have to mountand then argued as a transfinite recursive process to checkconsequence that this. Nevertheless, by was enough to apply the Kleene recursion theorem, there is a computable enumeration procedure that solves this recursion. Given $x$ and $y$, we simply start enumerating the left and right sets and then applying the very same c.e. process method to look for instances of $x<y_L$ orshow that division $x_R<y$. So$x/y$ $x<y$ is a c.e. relation for(by nonzero) was computable surreals. $\Box$
Because the complexity of being a computable surreal number is complicated, $\Pi^1_1$-complete, we should not expect to be able to enumerate all the numbers less than a given computable surreal number $y$, even thoughBut the relation is c.e., but rather the situation is that if argument was not correct $x$ is a computable surreal number and(pointed out by Dan Turetsky in $x<y$ then we will eventually know this computablythe comments).
Now, And so we can showdon't currently know that the computable surreals form a field.
Theorem. The computable surreals form a field.
Proof. The definition of $1/y$ and $x/y$ given on Wikipedia are of the same recursive sort as for addition and multiplication, except that one must branch depending on the sign of $y$ and $y_L$. But we can get that information since $0<y_L$ is a c.e. property. So there is a computable process solving the recursive definition of reciprocal and division, and so the resulting numbers are computable surreal numbers. $\Box$
Incidently,perhaps the observation that $x<y$evidence is c.enow against this. refutes an initial expectation I had that See also this would have complexity $\Pi^1_1$related unanswered question of Mike Shulman.
LetLastly, regarding saturation, let me also prove the following:
Proof. This is obvious, since $x=\{\ X\mid Y\ \}$ will be a computable surreal number strictly between, if we have computable enumerations of $X$ and $Y$. $\Box$
What remains for the real-closed field in question 1 is to show that if $x$ is a positive computable surreal number, then so is $\sqrt{x}$, and furthermore, every odd degree polynomial with computable coefficients has a computable root. We would be able to prove this using Kleene's theorem, as for addition and multiplication above, if we had recursive formulas for roots. But I am less sure about this. See also this related unanswered question of Mike Shulman.