A Syntactic Proof of the Decidability of First-Order Monadic Logic
A Syntactic Proof of the Decidability of First-Order Monadic Logic
Author(s): Eugenio Orlandelli, Matteo TesiSubject(s): Philosophy, Logic
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: proof theory; classical logic; decidability; Herbrand theorem
Summary/Abstract: Decidability of monadic first-order classical logic was established by Löwenheim in 1915. The proof made use of a semantic argument and a purely syntactic proof has never been provided. In the present paper we introduce a syntactic proof of decidability of monadic first-order logic in innex normal form which exploits G3-style sequent calculi. In particular, we introduce a cut- and contraction-free calculus having a (complexity-optimal) terminating proof-search procedure. We also show that this logic can be faithfully embedded in the modal logic T.
Journal: Bulletin of the Section of Logic
- Issue Year: 53/2024
- Issue No: 2
- Page Range: 223-244
- Page Count: 22
- Language: English