All Questions
6 questions
9
votes
1
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643
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Gentzen's result on PA
The Wikipedia states that Gentzen proved that "in modern terms, the proof-theoretic ordinal of PA is $\varepsilon_0$." Further down, the article defines what the "proof theoretic ordinal" of a theory ...
6
votes
0
answers
421
views
What is proof-theoretic ordinal of weak first-order arithmetic?
According to Wikipedia(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordinal_analysis) and nlab(https://ncatlab.org/nlab/show/ordinal+analysis), a proof-theoretic ordinal of $\mathsf{PRA}$ is $\omega^\omega$.
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1
vote
1
answer
466
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What does "can almost be proven in PA" mean regarding Theorem 2 of Timothy Chow's expository article, "The Consistency of Arithmetic"?
In his expository article, "The Consistency of Arithmetic" (MSN), Prof. Chow has the following theorems:
Theorem 1. If $a_1, a_2, a_3,\dotsc$ is a sequence of ordinals and $a_i \ge a_j$ whenever $...
13
votes
3
answers
1k
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Which ordinals can be proof-theoretic ordinals of a reasonable theory?
When talking to a friend recently he asked a question - are there any reasonable first-order theories which have proof theoretic ordinal equal to small or large Veblen ordinal? I have then extended ...
8
votes
2
answers
560
views
Models of PRA/EFA with induction on $X$ but not $\omega^X$
As I currently understand it, induction on formulas containing $N+1$ first-order quantifiers is required to prove the well-ordering of the ordinal $(\omega \uparrow\uparrow N) < \epsilon_0$, that ...
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 ...