Theorems of hyperarithmetic analysis (THAs) occupy an unusual neighborhood in the realms of reverse mathematics and recursion theoretic complexity. They lie above all the fixed (recursive) iterations of the Turing Jump but below ATR $_{0}$ (and so $\Pi _{1}^{1}$ -CA $_{0}$ or the hyperjump). There is a long history of proof theoretic principles which are THAs. Until Barnes, Goh, and Shore [ta] revealed an array of theorems in graph theory living in this neighborhood, there was only one mathematical denizen. In (...) this paper we introduce a new neighborhood of theorems which are almost theorems of hyperarithmetic analysis (ATHAs). When combined with ACA $_{0}$ they are THAs but on their own they are very weak. We generalize several conservativity classes ( $\Pi _{1}^{1}$, r- $\Pi _{2}^{1}$, and Tanaka) and show that all our examples (and many others) are conservative over RCA $_{0}$ in all these senses and weak in other recursion theoretic ways as well. We provide denizens, both mathematical and logical. These results answer a question raised by Hirschfeldt and reported in Montalbán [2011] by providing a long list of pairs of principles one of which is very weak over RCA $_{0}$ but over ACA $_{0}$ is equivalent to the other which may be strong (THA) or very strong going up a standard hierarchy and at the end being stronger than full second order arithmetic. (shrink)

Following our [6], though with somewhat different methods here, further variants of Goodstein sequences are introduced in terms of parameterized Ackermann–Péter functions. Each of the sequences is shown to terminate, and the proof-theoretic strengths of these facts are calibrated by means of ordinal assignments, yielding independence results for a range of theories: PRA, PA,$\Sigma ^1_1$-DC$_0$, ATR$_0$, up to ID$_1$. The key is the so-called “Hardy hierarchy” of proof-theoretic bounding finctions, providing a uniform method for associating Goodstein-type sequences with parameterized normal (...) form representations of positive integers. (shrink)

We give a short proof of a theorem of Beleznay asserting that the set $L2$ of reals coding linear orders of the form $I + I$ is complete analytic.

The Friedman–Stanley jump, extensively studied by descriptive set theorists, is a fundamental tool for gauging the complexity of Borel isomorphism relations. This paper focuses on a natural computable analog of this jump operator for equivalence relations on $\omega $, written ${\dotplus }$, recently introduced by Clemens, Coskey, and Krakoff. We offer a thorough analysis of the computable Friedman–Stanley jump and its connections with the hierarchy of countable equivalence relations under the computable reducibility $\leq _c$. In particular, we show that this (...) jump gives benchmark equivalence relations going up the hyperarithmetic hierarchy and we unveil the complicated highness hierarchy that arises from ${\dotplus }$. (shrink)

We explore the complexity of Sacks’ Splitting Theorem in terms of the mind change functions associated with the members of the splits. We prove that, for any c.e. set A, there are low computably enumerable sets $A_0\sqcup A_1=A$ splitting A with $A_0$ and $A_1$ both totally $\omega ^2$ -c.a. in terms of the Downey–Greenberg hierarchy, and this result cannot be improved to totally $\omega $ -c.a. as shown in [9]. We also show that if cone avoidance is added then there (...) is no level below $\varepsilon _0$ which can be used to characterize the complexity of $A_1$ and $A_2$. (shrink)

Theorems of hyperarithmetic analysis occupy an unusual neighborhood in the realms of reverse mathematics and recursion-theoretic complexity. They lie above all the fixed iterations of the Turing jump but below ATR $_{0}$. There is a long history of proof-theoretic principles which are THAs. Until the papers reported on in this communication, there was only one mathematical example. Barnes, Goh, and Shore [1] analyze an array of ubiquity theorems in graph theory descended from Halin’s [9] work on rays in graphs. They (...) seem to be typical applications of ACA $_{0}$ but are actually THAs. These results answer Question 30 of Montalbán’s Open Questions in Reverse Mathematics [19] and supply several other natural principles of different and unusual levels of complexity.This work led in [25] to a new neighborhood of the reverse mathematical zoo: almost theorems of hyperarithmetic analysis. When combined with ACA $_{0}$ they are THAs but on their own are very weak. Denizens both mathematical and logical are provided. Generalizations of several conservativity classes are defined and these ATHAs as well as many other principles are shown to be conservative over RCA $_{0}$ in all these senses and weak in other recursion-theoretic ways as well. These results answer a question raised by Hirschfeldt and reported in [19] by providing a long list of pairs of principles one of which is very weak over RCA $_{0}$ but over ACA $_{0}$ is equivalent to the other which may be strong or very strong going up a standard hierarchy and at the end being stronger than full second-order arithmetic. (shrink)

We study the uniform computational content of Ramsey’s theorem using both Weihrauch reducibility and a new variant of Weihrauch reducibility, where the functions in the reduction are required to be total. In the latter setting, we show that the strength of Ramsey’s theorem varies significantly depending on how one represents its solutions, for example, using characteristic functions or using enumerations. Some of our results extend beyond variants of Ramsey’s theorem. In particular, we show that RT 2 2 $\mathsf {RT}^{2}_{2}$ sans (...) serif upper R upper T 2 squared where solutions are represented using characteristic functions is not totally Weihrauch reducible to any computational problem whose solutions are represented using enumerations. Next, we study the computational problems RT ∞ n $\mathsf {RT}^{n}_{\infty }$ sans serif upper R upper T Subscript infinity Superscript n which take as input a colouring of n-tuples which has some infinite homogeneous set and asks for any such set. The problem RT ∞ 1 $\mathsf {RT}^{1}_{\infty }$ sans serif upper R upper T Subscript infinity Superscript 1 is fairly well-studied, as it is Weihrauch equivalent to the cluster point problem on N $\mathbb {N}$ double struck upper N. Our main result shows that RT ∞ 1 $\mathsf {RT}^{1}_{\infty }$ sans serif upper R upper T Subscript infinity Superscript 1 is not Weihrauch reducible to RT N 2 $\mathsf {RT}^{2}_{\mathbb {N}}$ sans serif upper R upper T Subscript double struck upper N Superscript 2, strengthening a result of Soldà and Valenti. We also show that the jump of RT ∞ 1 $\mathsf {RT}^{1}_{\infty }$ sans serif upper R upper T Subscript infinity Superscript 1 is Weihrauch equivalent to SRT ∞ 2 $\mathsf {SRT}^{2}_{\infty }$ sans serif upper S upper R upper T Subscript infinity Superscript 2. (shrink)

We study the degrees of unsolvability of sets which are cohesive . We answer a question raised by the first author in 1972 by showing that there is a cohesive set A whose degree a satisfies a' = 0″ and hence is not high. We characterize the jumps of the degrees of r-cohesive sets, and we show that the degrees of r-cohesive sets coincide with those of the cohesive sets. We obtain analogous results for strongly hyperimmune and strongly hyperhyperimmune sets (...) in place of r-cohesive and cohesive sets, respectively. We show that every strongly hyperimmune set whose degree contains either a Boolean combination of ∑2 sets or a 1-generic set is of high degree. We also study primitive recursive analogues of these notions and in this case we characterize the corresponding degrees exactly. MSC: 03D30, 03D55. (shrink)

Reverse Mathematics (RM hereafter) is a program in the foundations of mathematics where the aim is to identify the minimal axioms needed to prove a given theorem from ordinary, i.e., non-set theoretic, mathematics. This program has unveiled surprising regularities: the minimal axioms are very often equivalent to the theorem over the base theory, a weak system of ‘computable mathematics’, while most theorems are either provable in this base theory, or equivalent to one of only four logical systems. The latter plus (...) the base theory are called the ‘Big Five’ and the associated equivalences are robust following Montalbán, i.e., stable under small variations of the theorems at hand. Working in Kohlenbach’s higher-order RM, we obtain two new and long series of equivalences based on theorems due to Bolzano, Weierstrass, Jordan, and Cantor; these equivalences are extremely robust and have no counterpart among the Big Five systems. Thus, higher-order RM is much richer than its second-order cousin, boasting at least two extra ‘Big’ systems. (shrink)

Cantor’s first set theory paper (1874) establishes the uncountability of ${\mathbb R}$. We study this most basic mathematical fact formulated in the language of higher-order arithmetic. In particular, we investigate the logical and computational properties of ${\mathsf {NIN}}$ (resp. ${\mathsf {NBI}}$ ), i.e., the third-order statement there is no injection resp. bijection from $[0,1]$ to ${\mathbb N}$. Working in Kohlenbach’s higher-order Reverse Mathematics, we show that ${\mathsf {NIN}}$ and ${\mathsf {NBI}}$ are hard to prove in terms of (conventional) comprehension axioms, (...) while many basic theorems, like Arzelà’s convergence theorem for the Riemann integral (1885), are shown to imply ${\mathsf {NIN}}$ and/or ${\mathsf {NBI}}$. Working in Kleene’s higher-order computability theory based on S1–S9, we show that the following fourth-order process based on ${\mathsf {NIN}}$ is similarly hard to compute: for a given $[0,1]\rightarrow {\mathbb N}$ -function, find reals in the unit interval that map to the same natural number. (shrink)

In [2], Jockusch and Shore have introduced a new hierarchy of sets and operators called the REA hierarchy. In this note we prove analogues of the Friedberg Jump Theorem and the Sacks Jump Theorem for many REA operators. MSC: 03D25, 03D55.

We examine the degree structure $\operatorname {\mathrm {\mathbf {ER}}}$ of equivalence relations on $\omega $ under computable reducibility. We examine when pairs of degrees have a least upper bound. In particular, we show that sufficiently incomparable pairs of degrees do not have a least upper bound but that some incomparable degrees do, and we characterize the degrees which have a least upper bound with every finite equivalence relation. We show that the natural classes of finite, light, and dark degrees are (...) definable in $\operatorname {\mathrm {\mathbf {ER}}}$. We show that every equivalence relation has continuum many self-full strong minimal covers, and that $\mathbf {d}\oplus \mathbf {\operatorname {\mathrm {\mathbf {Id}}}_1}$ needn’t be a strong minimal cover of a self-full degree $\mathbf {d}$. Finally, we show that the theory of the degree structure $\operatorname {\mathrm {\mathbf {ER}}}$ as well as the theories of the substructures of light degrees and of dark degrees are each computably isomorphic with second-order arithmetic. (shrink)

We present two hierarchies of versions of Zorn’s lemma that can be used directly in reverse mathematical analyses just as the original is used in standard mathematical arguments. We show that at the first two levels these versions are reverse mathematically equivalent (over RCA0) to Πk1-CA0 for k=1,2 and at higher levels to known choice axioms not provable in Z2. We give several examples of how they could be used in known proofs and a new reverse mathematical analysis of some (...) theorems about injective choice functions (matchings) for countable families (of sets of numbers). These include a couple of unusual situations. One principle (MCSF) can be proven in Π21-CA0 using our version of Zorn’s lemma at Π21. It is a Π41 statement and perhaps might be equivalent to Π21-CA0. Another (MRSF) is just a Π31 statement and so cannot imply even Δ21-CA0 but its known proofs all use even more than Π21-CA0 (Π21-CA0+). Both of these principles are shown to imply Π11-CA0. These results suggest several interesting reverse mathematical questions. We also briefly discuss some connections to similar work of Flood, Jura, Levin, and Markkanen on matchings in general graphs. (shrink)

The study of the word problems of groups dates back to Dehn in 1911, and has been a central topic of study in both group theory and computability theory. As most naturally occurring presentations of groups are recursive, their word problems can be thought of as a computably enumerable equivalence relation (ceer). In this article, we study the word problem of groups in the framework of ceer degrees, introducing a new metric with which to study word problems. This metric is (...) more refined than the classical context of Turing degrees. Classically, every Turing degree is realized as the word problem of some c.e. group, but this is not true for ceer degrees. This motivates us to look at the classical constructions and show that there is a group whose word problem is not universal, but becomes universal after taking any nontrivial free product, which we call $*$ -universal. This shows that existing constructions of the Higman embedding theorem do not preserve ceer degrees. We also study the index set of various classes of groups defined by their properties as a ceer: groups whose word problems are dark (equivalently, algorithmically finite as defined by Miasnikov and Osin), universal, and $*$ -universal groups. (shrink)

Let $\operatorname {TFAb}_r$ be the class of torsion-free abelian groups of rank r, and let $\operatorname {FD}_r$ be the class of fields of characteristic $0$ and transcendence degree r. We compare these classes using various notions. Considering the Scott complexity of the structures in the classes and the complexity of the isomorphism relations on the classes, the classes seem very similar. Hjorth and Thomas showed that the $\operatorname {TFAb}_r$ are strictly increasing under Borel reducibility. This is not so for the (...) classes $\operatorname {FD}_r$. Thomas and Velickovic showed that for sufficiently large r, the classes $\operatorname {FD}_r$ are equivalent under Borel reducibility. We try to compare the groups with the fields, using Borel reducibility, and also using some effective variants. We give functorial Turing computable embeddings of $\operatorname {TFAb}_r$ in $\operatorname {FD}_r$, and of $\operatorname {FD}_r$ in $\operatorname {FD}_{r+1}$. We show that under computable countable reducibility, $\operatorname {TFAb}_1$ lies on top among the classes we are considering. In fact, under computable countable reducibility, isomorphism on $\operatorname {TFAb}_1$ lies on top among equivalence relations that are effective $\Sigma _3$. (shrink)

For the notion of degree of categoricity, we study an analogous notion for punctual structures. We show that such notions coincide for non- Δ 1 0 $\Delta _{1}^{0}$ normal upper Delta 1 Superscript 0 -categorical injection structures, and construct an example of a Δ 1 0 $\Delta _{1}^{0}$ normal upper Delta 1 Superscript 0 -categorical injection structure for which these notions differ. Additionally, we also show that in every non-zero c.e. Turing degree, there exists a PR-degree that is low for (...) punctual isomorphism (to be defined), and also a PR-degree that is a degree of punctual categoricity. (shrink)

Let T(Ω) be the ordinal notation system from Buchholz-Schütte (1988). [The order type of the countable segmentT(Ω)0 is — by Rathjen (1988) — the proof-theoretic ordinal the proof-theoretic ordinal ofACA 0 + (Π 1 l −TR).] In particular let ↦Ω a denote the enumeration function of the infinite cardinals and leta ↦ ψ0 a denote the partial collapsing operation on T(Ω) which maps ordinals of T(Ω) into the countable segment TΩ 0 of T(Ω). Assume that the (fast growing) extended Grzegorczyk (...) hierarchy $(F_a )_{a \in T(\Omega )_0 }$ and the slow growing hierarchy $(G_a )_{a \in T(\Omega )_0 }$ are defined with respect to the natural system of distinguished fundamental sequences of Buchholz and Schütte (1988) in the following way: $$\begin{array}{*{20}c} {G_0 (n): = 0,} & {F_0 (n): = (n + 1)^2 ,} \\ {\begin{array}{*{20}c} {G_{a + 1} (n): = G_a (n) + 1,} \\ {G_l (n): = G_{l[n]} (n),} \\ \end{array} } & {\begin{array}{*{20}c} {F_{a + 1} (n): = \underbrace {F_a (...F_a }_{n + 1 - times}(n)...),} \\ {F_l (n): = F_{l[n]} (n),} \\ \end{array} } \\ \end{array}$$ wherel is a countable limit ordinal (term) and (l[n]) n ∈N is the distinguished fundamental sequence assigned tol. For each ordinal (term)a in T(Ω) and each natural numbern letC n (a) be the formal term which results from the ordinal terma by successively replacing every occurence ofψ a by $\psi _{ - 1 + C_n (a)}$ whereψ −1 is considered as a defined function symbol, namely $\psi _{ - 1} b: = F_{\psi _0 b + 1} (n + 1)$ . (Note thatψ a 0=Ω a ) In this article it is shown that for each ordinal termψ 0 a in T(Ω) there exists a natural numbern 0 such thatψ 0 C n (a) ∈ T(Ω) and $G_{\psi _0 a} (n) \leqslant F_{\psi _0 C_n (a) + 1} (n + 1)$ holds for alln≥n 0. This hierarchy comparison theorem yields a plethora of new results on nontrivial lower bounds for the slow growing ordinals — i.e. ordinals for which the slow growing hierarchy yields a classification of the provably total functions of the theory in question — of various theories of iterated inductive definitions (and subsystems ofKPi) and on the number and size of the subrecursively inaccessible ordinals — i.e. ordinals at which the extended Grzegorczyk hierarchy and the slow growing hierarchy catch up — below the proof-theoretic ordinal ofACA 0+(Π 1 l −TR). In particular these subrecursively inaccessibles ordinals are necessarily of the form $\psi _0 \Omega ..._{\Omega _\omega }$. (shrink)

Computably enumerable equivalence relations received a lot of attention in the literature. The standard tool to classify ceers is provided by the computable reducibility \. This gives rise to a rich degree structure. In this paper, we lift the study of c-degrees to the \ case. In doing so, we rely on the Ershov hierarchy. For any notation a for a non-zero computable ordinal, we prove several algebraic properties of the degree structure induced by \ on the \ equivalence relations. (...) A special focus of our work is on the existence of infima and suprema of c-degrees. (shrink)

In this article, we propose a new classification of $\Sigma ^0_2$ formulas under the realizability interpretation of many-one reducibility (i.e., Levin reducibility). For example, $\mathsf {Fin}$, the decision of being eventually zero for sequences, is many-one/Levin complete among $\Sigma ^0_2$ formulas of the form $\exists n\forall m\geq n.\varphi (m,x)$, where $\varphi $ is decidable. The decision of boundedness for sequences $\mathsf {BddSeq}$ and for width of posets $\mathsf {FinWidth}$ are many-one/Levin complete among $\Sigma ^0_2$ formulas of the form $\exists n\forall (...) m\geq n\forall k.\varphi (m,k,x)$, where $\varphi $ is decidable. However, unlike the classical many-one reducibility, none of the above is $\Sigma ^0_2$ -complete. The decision of non-density of linear orders $\mathsf {NonDense}$ is truly $\Sigma ^0_2$ -complete. (shrink)

In this thesis, we study the complexity of some mathematical problems: in particular, those arising in computable analysis and algorithmic learning theory for algebraic structures. Our study is not limited to these two areas: indeed, in both cases, the results we obtain are tightly connected to ideas and tools coming from different areas of mathematical logic, including for example descriptive set theory and reverse mathematics.After giving the necessary preliminaries, we first study the uniform computational strength of the Cantor–Bendixson theorem in (...) the Weihrauch lattice. This work falls into the program connecting reverse mathematics and computable analysis via the framework of Weihrauch reducibility. We concentrate on problems related to perfect subsets of Polish spaces, studying the perfect set theorem, the Cantor–Bendixson theorem, and various problems arising from them. As far as we know, this is the first systematic study of problems at the level of $\mathbf {\Pi }^1_1\mathsf {-CA}_0$ in the Weihrauch lattice. We show that the strength of some of the problems we study depends on the topological properties of the Polish space under consideration, while others have the same strength once the space is rich enough.We continue considering problems related to (induced) subgraphs. We provide results on the (effective) Wadge complexity of sets of graphs, that are also used to determine the Weihrauch degree of certain decision problems. The decision problems we consider are defined for a fixed graph G, and they take as input a graph H, answering whether G is an (induced) subgraph of H: we also consider the opposite problem (i.e., answering whether H is an induced subgraph of G). We conclude this part on (induced) subgraphs considering the Weihrauch degree of “search problems.”These problems are defined for a fixed graph G, and they take as input a graph H such that G is an (induced) subgraph H: the output is a copy of G in H. In both cases, we highlight differences and analogies between the subgraph and the induced subgraph relation.We then move our attention to algorithmic learning theory, and we present the framework we use to study the learnability of families of algebraic structures: here, given a countable family of pairwise nonisomorphic structures $\mathfrak {K}$, a learner receives larger and larger pieces of an arbitrary copy of a structure in $\mathfrak {K}$ and, at each stage, is required to output a conjecture about the isomorphism type of such a structure. We say that $\mathfrak {K}$ is learnable if there exists a learner which eventually stabilizes to a correct guess. The framework was lacking a method for comparing the complexity of nonlearnable families, and so we propose a solution to this problem using tools coming from invariant descriptive set theory. To do so, we first prove that a family of structures is learnable if and only if its learning domain is continuously reducible to the relation $E_0$ of eventual agreement on infinite binary sequences and then, replacing $E_0$ with Borel equivalence relations of higher complexity, we obtain a new hierarchy of learning problems. This leads to the notion of E-learnability, where a family of structures $\mathfrak {K}$ is E-learnable, for a Borel equivalence relation E, if there is a continuous reduction from the isomorphism relation associated with $\mathfrak {K}$ to E. It is then natural to ask how the notion of E-learnability interacts with “classical” learning paradigms.Finally, we study the number of mind changes that a learner needs to learn a given family, both from a topological and a combinatorial point of view, and we consider how the complexity of a learner (in terms of Turing reducibility) affects the number of mind changes for learning a given family.Abstract prepared by Vittorio Cipriani.E-mail: [email protected]: https://air.uniud.it/handle/11390/1252226. (shrink)

In their logical analysis of theorems about disjoint rays in graphs, Barnes, Shore, and the author (hereafter BGS) introduced a weak choice scheme in second-order arithmetic, called the $\Sigma ^1_1$ axiom of finite choice (hereafter finite choice). This is a special case of the $\Sigma ^1_1$ axiom of choice ( $\Sigma ^1_1\text {-}\mathsf {AC}_0$ ) introduced by Kreisel. BGS showed that $\Sigma ^1_1\text {-}\mathsf {AC}_0$ suffices for proving many of the aforementioned theorems in graph theory. While it is not known (...) if these implications reverse, BGS also showed that those theorems imply finite choice (in some cases, with additional induction assumptions). This motivated us to study the proof-theoretic strength of finite choice. Using a variant of Steel forcing with tagged trees, we show that finite choice is not provable from the $\Delta ^1_1$ -comprehension scheme (even over $\omega $ -models). We also show that finite choice is a consequence of the arithmetic Bolzano–Weierstrass theorem (introduced by Friedman and studied by Conidis), assuming $\Sigma ^1_1$ -induction. Our results were used by BGS to show that several theorems in graph theory cannot be proved using $\Delta ^1_1$ -comprehension. Our results also strengthen results of Conidis. (shrink)

We present the true stages machinery and illustrate its applications to descriptive set theory. We use this machinery to provide new proofs of the Hausdorff–Kuratowski and Wadge theorems on the structure of $\mathbf {\Delta }^0_\xi $, Louveau and Saint Raymond’s separation theorem, and Louveau’s separation theorem.

We show that in elementary analysis (EL) the contrapositive of countable choice is equivalent to double negation elimination for \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\Sigma_{2}^{0}}$$\end{document}-formulas. By also proving a recursive adaptation of this equivalence in Heyting arithmetic (HA), we give an instance of the conservativity of EL over HA with respect to recursive functions and predicates. As a complement, we prove in HA enriched with the (extended) Church thesis that every decidable predicate is recursive.