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32 votes
11 answers
11k views

Is PA consistent? do we know it?

1) (By Goedel's) One can not prove, in PA, a formula that can be interpreted to express the consistency of PA. (Hopefully I said it right. Specialists correct me, please). 2) There are proofs (...
9 votes
1 answer
1k views

ERA, PRA, PA, transfinite induction and equivalences

I'm quite sure I don't understand very well the links between proof theoretical ordinals of theories, the axioms of transfinite induction and the objects a theory can prove to exist. For instance I'm ...
Primitive Recursive Fab's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
246 views

Independent/Easy fraction of sentences over PA

Let $S(n)$ be the set of all sentences over PA of length at most $n$ (counting the quantifier symbols, boolean connectives, arithmetic operations and constants, and counting each variable as length $1$...
user21820's user avatar
  • 2,912
3 votes
1 answer
171 views

Models of arithmetical theory R + induction in which successor is not injective

Consider the arithmetical theory sometimes denoted by $\mathsf{R}$. The non-logical vocabulary of $\mathsf{R}$ consists of '$0$', '$S$', '$+$' and '$\times$'. The axioms of this theory are all true ...
Thomas Schindler's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
993 views

Neither Even Nor Odd Natural Numbers

Modular arithmetic (MA) has the same axioms as first order Peano arithmetic (PA) except $\forall x(Sx \neq 0)$ is replaced with $\exists x(Sx=0)$. In Even XOR Odd Infinities? I asked if this statement ...
Russell Easterly's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
154 views

The Dirichlet principle and arithmetical induction

Let us consider the Dirichlet principle as follows: for all natural numbers $n > k > 0$, there is no injection from $\{0, \dots, n-1\}$ into $\{0, \dots, k-1\}$. Is it true that in some non-...
Nikolay Kazimirov's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
3k views

Why Does Induction Prove Multiplication is Commutative?

Andrew Boucher's General Arithmetic (GA2) is a weak sub-theory of second order Peano Axioms (PA2). GA has second order induction and a single successor axiom: $$\forall x \forall y \forall z\bigr((Sx=...
Russell Easterly's user avatar