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In a short proof of the Roth theorem regarding the rational approximation of algebraic reals I found online (which made use of Siegel's Lemma), it was stated that "Siegel's lemma is a corollary of the 'pigeonhole principle'". In their paper, "Where Pigeonhole Principles Meet Konig Lemmas" (preprint arXiv:1912.03487v1 [math.LO] 7 Dec 2019), David Belanger, C.T. Chong, Wei Wang, Tin Lok Wong, and Yue Yang state that "the pigeonhole principle for $\Sigma_{2}$-definable injections with domain twice as large as as the codomain" is strictly weaker than "the usual pigeonhole principle for $\Sigma_{2}$-definable injections (so that one could possibly speak of a sequence of pigeonhole principles listed from weakest to strongest). My questions, then, are simply these:

  1. What is the weakest pigeonhole principle needed to derive Siegel's Lemma from, say, $RCA^*_0$ or $WKL^*_0$?

  2. Could one prove very weak pigeonhole principles directly from $RCA^*_0$ and/or $WKL^*_0$ which would derive Siegel's Lemma and if not, why not?

Here is Siegel's lemma:

Let $A$ be an $M$ $\times$ $N$ matrix with $M$ $\lt$ $N$ and having entries in $\bf Z$ of absolute value at most $Q$, where $\bf Z$ is the set of integers. Then there exists a nonzero vector $\bf x$ = ($x_{1}$, ..., $x_{n}$) $\in$ $\bf Z^{N}$ with $A$$\bf x$ = 0, such that

|$x_{i}$| $\leq$ [($N$$Q)^\frac {M} {(N - M)}$] =: $Z$, $i$ =1,...,$N$

It should be noted that a weak form of $\Delta_{0}$$PHP$ [pigeonhole principle] is provable in $EFA$ as shown in Berarducci's and Intrigila's paper, "Combinatorial principles in elementary number theory", Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 55 (1991) 35-50, on pg. 36.

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  • $\begingroup$ That paper is very interesting but it has nothing to do with Siegel's Lemma. It would be useful to include a statement of Siegel's Lemma with the question. Assuming this is the lemma I think about, this is about bounds for nontrivial solutions of systems of linear homogeneous equations with rational coefficients. If I'm correct, this looks like a $\Pi_1$ statement at best. Second-order arithmetic is the wrong target. It's certainly provable in PRA and probably provable in EFA. $\endgroup$ Commented Apr 10, 2022 at 5:03
  • $\begingroup$ @FrançoisG.Dorais: it is provability in $EFA$ that interests me (and yes, that's the theorem I am referring to). I have been led to believe that the two systems of second-order arithmetic I have mentioned in my question have the same consistency strength as $EFA$ and are conservative over it for $\Pi_2$ sentences (via the Wikipedia entry for $EFA$). How would you go about proving that Seigel's Lemma is provable in $EFA$ (or could give me a reference where that has been already done)? $\endgroup$ Commented Apr 10, 2022 at 7:25
  • $\begingroup$ To see that it is provable in EFA, I would just go through the proof carefully. It only uses the finite pigeonhole principle, so this has nothing to do with second-order arithmetic, this is about first-order arithmetic. So the context you set out is incorrect. To draw the right attention, you need to recast in terms of subsystems of first-order arithmetic. $\endgroup$ Commented Apr 10, 2022 at 7:51
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks. This is very helpful. $\endgroup$ Commented Apr 10, 2022 at 8:58
  • $\begingroup$ @FrançoisG.Dorais: since you mentioned that Siegel's Lemma was probably provable in $EFA$, what factors would possibly keep it from being provable in $EFA$? $\endgroup$ Commented Apr 10, 2022 at 10:18

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I believe I have found a partial answer to my question. Consider the following: If the first-order part of $RCA^{*}_0$ is $I$$\Delta_{0}$ + $Exp$ + $B$$\Sigma_{1}$, where $B$$\Sigma_{1}$ is the Boundedness principle for $\Sigma_{1}$ formulas (as Prof. Enayat suggests in his comment to his answer to the mathoverflow question question, "van der Waerden's theorem in Reverse Mathematics" (question 316480)), one can use the following theorem of Dimitracopoulos and Paris (mentioned in the paper "Where Pigeonhole Principles Meet Konig Lemmas")

Over $I$$\Delta_{0}$ + $Exp$, $\forall$ $x$($\Sigma_{1}$: $x$ +$1$ $\rightarrow$ $($ 2 $)^{1}_{x}$$)$ is equivalent to $B$$\Sigma_{1}$, where $\forall$$ $x$ $($\Sigma_{1}$: $x$ + $1$ $\rightarrow$ $($ 2 $)^{1}_{x}$$)$ is the $\Sigma^{0}_{1}$ Pigeonhole Principle

to substitute the $\Sigma^{0}_{1}$ Pigeonhole Principle for $B$$\Sigma_{1}$ in the first-order part of $RCA^{*}_{0}$, giving the type of pigeonhole principle needed to prove Siegel's Lemma in $EFA$, if it in fact can be....

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