Friedman-reflexivity

Abstract

In the present paper, we explore an idea of Harvey Friedman to obtain a coordinate-free presentation of consistency. For some range of theories, Friedman's idea delivers actual consistency statements (modulo provable equivalence). For a wider range, it delivers consistency-like statements. We say that a sentence C is an interpreter of a finitely axiomatised A over U iff it is the weakest statement C over U, with respect to U-provability, such that U+C interprets A. A theory U is Friedman-reflexive iff every finitely axiomatised A has an interpreter over U. Friedman shows that Peano Arithmetic, PA, is Friedman-reflexive. We study the question which theories are Friedman-reflexive. We show that a very weak theory, Peano Corto, is Friedman-reflexive. We do not get the usual consistency statements here, but bounded, cut-free, or Herbrand consistency statements. We illustrate that Peano Corto as a base theory has additional desirable properties. We prove a characterisation theorem for the Friedman-reflexivity of sequential theories. We provide an example of a Friedman-reflexive sequential theory that substantially differs from the paradigm cases of Peano Arithmetic and Peano Corto. Interpreters over a Friedman-reflexive U can be used to define a provability-like notion for any finitely axiomatised A that interprets U. We explore what modal logics this idea gives rise to. We call such logics interpreter logics. We show that, generally, these logics satisfy the Löb Conditions, aka K4. We provide conditions for when interpreter logics extend S4, K45, and Löb's Logic. We show that, if either U or A is sequential, then the condition for extending Löb's Logic is fulfilled. Moreover, if our base theory U is sequential and if, in addition, its interpreters can be effectively found, we prove Solovay's Theorem. This holds even if the provability-like operator is not necessarily representable by a predicate of Gödel numbers. At the end of the paper, we briefly discuss how successful the coordinate-free approach is.