CS486 Spring 1997
Lecture 15 Tuesday, March 11, 1997
Reading: Suppes p.20-23
On Definitions and Theory Extensions
Adding definitions of new predicates and operators to a theory constitutes an extension of the theory to
. For example, we can add to
satisfies the formula
when substituted for
, that is
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Sometimes new functions are added by means of the iota-operator (-operator) or an epsilon-operator (
-operator). We can introduce
whenever
, the iota term denotes this unique object. So, for
we can prove
. Thus
is well-defined, and we say
The -operator is used in some theories to pick out some element satisfying a predicate, so if
then
holds. This operator is more subtle to analyze since it implies the axiom of choice.
To simplify the notation, we can use in place of
whenever
holds.
We speak of these definitions as new abstractions. There are explicit rules for expanding an abstraction (the left hand side-) to its definitions (right hand side-
).
Elimination of defined functions, constants and relations.
If extends theory
, then we say that the new notations are eliminable iff there is an effective procedure which given any formula
of
produces a formula
of
such that
(i) Ifis in
, then
is
.
(ii)
(iii) Ifthen
When an elimination procedure exists, then we also know
(iv)iff
and
(v) Ifare formulas of
then
iff
.
Theorem
Letbe a first-order theory with equality, =, and let
be a formula with only
free, and suppose
, then the definition
is eliminable.
The effective elimination procedure replacesin any formula
by a new variable
to obtain
and taking
to be
.