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first-order and higher-order logic, model theory, set theory, proof theory, computability theory, formal languages, definability, interplay of syntax and semantics, constructive logic, intuitionism, philosophical logic, modal logic, completeness, Gödel incompleteness, decidability, undecidability, theories of truth, truth revision, consistency.

393 votes

What are some reasonable-sounding statements that are independent of ZFC?

"If a set X is smaller in cardinality than another set Y, then X has fewer subsets than Y." Althought the statement sounds obvious, it is actually independent of ZFC. The statement follows from the …
241 votes
Accepted

Is the analysis as taught in universities in fact the analysis of definable numbers?

The concept of definable real number, although seemingly easy to reason with at first, is actually laden with subtle metamathematical dangers to which both your question and the Wikipedia article to w …
Joel David Hamkins's user avatar
174 votes
Accepted

Solutions to the Continuum Hypothesis

Since you have already linked to some of the contemporary primary sources, where of course the full accounts of those views can be found, let me interpret your question as a request for summary accoun …
Joel David Hamkins's user avatar
173 votes

Most 'unintuitive' application of the Axiom of Choice?

I have enjoyed the other answers very much. But perhaps it would be desirable to balance the discussion somewhat with a counterpoint, by mentioning a few of the counter-intuitive situations that can o …
148 votes
Accepted

Nontrivial theorems with trivial proofs

Bertrand Russell proved that the general set-formation principle known as the Comprehension Principle, which asserts that for any property $\varphi$ one may form the set $\lbrace\ x \mid \varphi(x)\ \ …
144 votes
Accepted

Reductio ad absurdum or the contrapositive?

Although the other answers correctly explain the basic logical equivalence of the two proof methods, I believe an important point has been missed: With good reason, we mathematicians prefer a direct …
Joel David Hamkins's user avatar
135 votes
43 answers
38k views

What are the most attractive Turing undecidable problems in mathematics?

What are the most attractive Turing undecidable problems in mathematics? There are thousands of examples, so please post here only the most attractive, best examples. Some examples already appear on …
116 votes

Why worry about the axiom of choice?

Yes, many people continue to fuss about the Axiom of Choice. At least part of the explanation for why people continue to fuss as they do over the Axiom of Choice is surely the historical fact that the …
80 votes
4 answers
9k views

Who first characterized the real numbers as the unique complete ordered field?

Nearly every mathematician nowadays is familiar with the fact that there is up to isomorphism only one complete ordered field, the real numbers. Theorem. Any two complete ordered fields are isomorphic …
Joel David Hamkins's user avatar
79 votes

What are some reasonable-sounding statements that are independent of ZFC?

"There is no definable well-ordering of the real numbers." Although many mathematicians simply believe this statement to be true, actually, it is independent of ZFC. In Goedel's constructible univer …
76 votes
9 answers
6k views

Can we unify addition and multiplication into one binary operation? To what extent can we fi...

The question is the extent to which we can unify addition and multiplication, realizing them as terms in a single underlying binary operation. I have a number of questions. Is there a binary operati …
Joel David Hamkins's user avatar
74 votes
Accepted

What's wrong with the surreals?

At a recent conference in Paris on Philosophy and Model Theory (at which I also spoke), Philip Ehrlich gave a fascinating talk on the surreal numbers and new developments, showcasing it as unifying ma …
Joel David Hamkins's user avatar
72 votes

Nontrivial theorems with trivial proofs

Cantor proved that the set of real numbers is uncountable---it cannot be put in bijective correspondence with the natural numbers---but the proof is a simple diagonalization: if the real numbers could …
70 votes
Accepted

A remark of Connes on non-standard analysis

...as soon as you have a non-standard number, you get a non-measurable set. Every nonstandard natural number $N$ gives rise to a nonprincipal ultrafilter $U$ on $\mathbb{N}$, by saying that a set $X …
Joel David Hamkins's user avatar
67 votes

Knuth's intuition that Goldbach might be unprovable

You are right to view the Goldbach conjecture as having a particularly simple logical form. Such statements of the form "for every $n$, property $P(n)$ holds", where $P$ is a particularly simple state …
Joel David Hamkins's user avatar

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