Hilbert's Second Problem

	Hilbert's Second Problem In mathematics, Hilbert's second problem was posed by David Hilbert in 1900 as one of his 23 problems. It asks for a proof that the arithmetic is consistent – free of any internal contradictions. Hilbert stated that the axioms he considered for arithmetic were the ones given in , which include a second order completeness axiom. In the 1930s, Kurt Gödel and Gerhard Gentzen proved results that cast new light on the problem. Some feel that Gödel's theorems give a negative solution to the problem, while others consider Gentzen's proof as a partial positive solution. Hilbert's problem and its interpretation In one English translation, Hilbert asks: "When we are engaged in investigating the foundations of a science, we must set up a system of axioms which contains an exact and complete description of the relations subsisting between the elementary ideas of that science. ... But above all I wish to designate the following as the most important among the numerous questions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics with the major subdisciplines of number theory, algebra, geometry, and analysis, respectively. There is no general consensus among mathematicians about a common definition for their academic discipline. Most mathematical activity involves the discovery of properties of abstract objects and the use of pure reason to prove them. These objects consist of either abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicsentities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. A ''proof'' consists of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results include previously proved theorems, axioms, andin case of abstraction from naturesome basic properties that are considered true starting points of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Transfinite Induction Transfinite induction is an extension of mathematical induction to well-ordered sets, for example to sets of ordinal numbers or cardinal numbers. Its correctness is a theorem of ZFC. Induction by cases Let P(\alpha) be a property defined for all ordinals \alpha. Suppose that whenever P(\beta) is true for all \beta < \alpha, then $P(\alpha)$ is also true. Then transfinite induction tells us that $P$ is true for all ordinals. Usually the proof is broken down into three cases: * Zero case: Prove that $P(0)$ is true. * Successor case: Prove that for any successor ordinal $\alpha+1$ , $P(\alpha+1)$ follows from $P(\alpha)$ (and, if necessary, $P(\beta)$ for all $\beta < \alpha$ ). * Limit case: Prove that for any [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
	Torkel Franzén Torkel Franzén (1 April 1950, Norrbotten County – 19 April 2006, Stockholm) was a Swedish academic. Biography Franzén worked at the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, in the fields of mathematical logic and computer science. He was known for his work on Gödel's incompleteness theorems and for his contributions to Usenet. He was active in the online science fiction fan community, and even issued his own electronic fanzine ''Frotz'' on his fiftieth birthday. He died of bone cancer at age 56.Torkel Franzén is dead 20 April 2006. Selected works * ''Gödel's Theorem: An Incomplete Guide to its Use and Abuse''. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
	Stephen Kleene Stephen Cole Kleene ( ; January 5, 1909 – January 25, 1994) was an American mathematician. One of the students of Alonzo Church, Kleene, along with Rózsa Péter, Alan Turing, Emil Post, and others, is best known as a founder of the branch of mathematical logic known as recursion theory, which subsequently helped to provide the foundations of theoretical computer science. Kleene's work grounds the study of computable functions. A number of mathematical concepts are named after him: Kleene hierarchy, Kleene algebra, the Kleene star (Kleene closure), Kleene's recursion theorem and the Kleene fixed-point theorem. He also invented regular expressions in 1951 to describe McCulloch-Pitts neural networks, and made significant contributions to the foundations of mathematical intuitionism. Biography Kleene was awarded a bachelor's degree from Amherst College in 1930. He was awarded a Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton University in 1934, where his thesis, entitled ''A Theory of Positi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
	William W William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of England in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is sometimes abbreviated "Wm." Shortened familiar versions in English include Will, Wills, Willy, Willie, Bill, and Billy. A common Irish form is Liam. Scottish diminutives include Wull, Willie or Wullie (as in Oor Wullie or the play ''Douglas''). Female forms are Willa, Willemina, Wilma and Wilhelmina. Etymology William is related to the given name ''Wilhelm'' (cf. Proto-Germanic ᚹᛁᛚᛃᚨᚺᛖᛚᛗᚨᛉ, ''Wiljahelmaz'' > German ''Wilhelm'' and Old Norse ᚢᛁᛚᛋᛅᚼᛅᛚᛘᛅᛋ, ''Vilhjálmr''). By regular sound changes, the native, inherited English form of the name should b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR:* [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
	Jean Van Heijenoort Jean Louis Maxime van Heijenoort (; July 23, 1912 – March 29, 1986) was a historian of mathematical logic. He was also a personal secretary to Leon Trotsky from 1932 to 1939, and an American Trotskyist until 1947. Life Van Heijenoort was born in Creil in France. His family's financial situation was difficult as his father, after having immigrated from the Netherlands, died when van Heijenoort was 2. He completed normal education and became fluent in French. He remained attached to his French extended family and friends until his death and visited France twice a year after he became a naturalized American citizen in 1958. He was murdered in Mexico City in 1986 by his 4th spouse. Political views In 1932, Van Heijenoort was recruited by Yvan Craipeau to join the Trotskyist movement. He joined the Communist League in the same year. After Trotsky was exiled, he hired van Heijenoort as a secretary and bodyguard, primarily because of his fluency in French, Russian, German, and Englis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
	Takeuti Conjecture In mathematics, Takeuti's conjecture is the conjecture of Gaisi Takeuti that a sequent formalisation of second-order logic has cut-elimination (Takeuti 1953). It was settled positively: * By Tait, using a semantic technique for proving cut-elimination, based on work by Schütte (Tait 1966); * Independently by Prawitz (Prawitz 1968) and Takahashi (Takahashi 1967) by a similar technique (Takahashi 1967) - although Prawitz's and Takahashi's proofs are not limited to second-order logic, but concern higher-order logics in general; * It is a corollary of Jean-Yves Girard's syntactic proof of strong normalization for System F. Takeuti's conjecture is equivalent to the 1-consistency of second-order arithmetic in the sense that each of the statements can be derived from each other in the weak system PRA. It is also equivalent to the strong normalization of the Girard/Reynold's System F. See also * Hilbert's second problem References * Dag Prawitz, 1968. Hauptsatz for higher order logic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Second-order Logic In logic and mathematics, second-order logic is an extension of first-order logic, which itself is an extension of propositional logic. Second-order logic is in turn extended by higher-order logic and type theory. First-order logic quantifies only variables that range over individuals (elements of the domain of discourse); second-order logic, in addition, also quantifies over relations. For example, the second-order sentence \forall P\,\forall x (Px \lor \neg Px) says that for every formula ''P'', and every individual ''x'', either ''Px'' is true or not(''Px'') is true (this is the law of excluded middle). Second-order logic also includes quantification over sets, functions, and other variables (see section below). Both first-order and second-order logic use the idea of a domain of discourse (often called simply the "domain" or the "universe"). The domain is a set over which individual elements may be quantified. Examples First-order logic can quantify over individuals, bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
	Consistency Strength In mathematical logic, two theories are equiconsistent if the consistency of one theory implies the consistency of the other theory, and vice versa. In this case, they are, roughly speaking, "as consistent as each other". In general, it is not possible to prove the absolute consistency of a theory ''T''. Instead we usually take a theory ''S'', believed to be consistent, and try to prove the weaker statement that if ''S'' is consistent then ''T'' must also be consistent—if we can do this we say that ''T'' is ''consistent relative to S''. If ''S'' is also consistent relative to ''T'' then we say that ''S'' and ''T'' are equiconsistent. Consistency In mathematical logic, formal theories are studied as mathematical objects. Since some theories are powerful enough to model different mathematical objects, it is natural to wonder about their own consistency. Hilbert proposed a program at the beginning of the 20th century whose ultimate goal was to show, using mathematical methods ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Ordinal Numbers In set theory, an ordinal number, or ordinal, is a generalization of ordinal numerals (first, second, th, etc.) aimed to extend enumeration to infinite sets. A finite set can be enumerated by successively labeling each element with the least natural number that has not been previously used. To extend this process to various infinite sets, ordinal numbers are defined more generally as linearly ordered labels that include the natural numbers and have the property that every set of ordinals has a least element (this is needed for giving a meaning to "the least unused element"). This more general definition allows us to define an ordinal number \omega that is greater than every natural number, along with ordinal numbers \omega + 1, \omega + 2, etc., which are even greater than \omega. A linear order such that every subset has a least element is called a well-order. The axiom of choice implies that every set can be well-ordered, and given two well-ordered sets, one is isomorphic to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
	Ordinal Analysis In proof theory, ordinal analysis assigns ordinals (often large countable ordinals) to mathematical theories as a measure of their strength. If theories have the same proof-theoretic ordinal they are often equiconsistent, and if one theory has a larger proof-theoretic ordinal than another it can often prove the consistency of the second theory. History The field of ordinal analysis was formed when Gerhard Gentzen in 1934 used cut elimination to prove, in modern terms, that the proof-theoretic ordinal of Peano arithmetic is ε0. See Gentzen's consistency proof. Definition Ordinal analysis concerns true, effective (recursive) theories that can interpret a sufficient portion of arithmetic to make statements about ordinal notations. The proof-theoretic ordinal of such a theory T is the supremum of the order types of all ordinal notations (necessarily recursive, see next section) that the theory can prove are well founded—the supremum of all ordinals \alpha for which the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
	Primitive Recursive Arithmetic Primitive recursive arithmetic (PRA) is a quantifier-free formalization of the natural numbers. It was first proposed by Norwegian mathematician , reprinted in translation in as a formalization of his finitist conception of the foundations of arithmetic, and it is widely agreed that all reasoning of PRA is finitist. Many also believe that all of finitism is captured by PRA, but others believe finitism can be extended to forms of recursion beyond primitive recursion, up to ε0, which is the proof-theoretic ordinal of Peano arithmetic. PRA's proof theoretic ordinal is ωω, where ω is the smallest transfinite ordinal. PRA is sometimes called Skolem arithmetic. The language of PRA can express arithmetic propositions involving natural numbers and any primitive recursive function, including the operations of addition, multiplication, and exponentiation. PRA cannot explicitly quantify over the domain of natural numbers. PRA is often taken as the basic metamathematical form ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]

Selected works