Minimal Equivalence Relations in Hyperarithmetical and Analytical Hierarchies

Abstract

A standard tool for classifying the complexity of equivalence relations on $\omega$ is provided by computable reducibility. This reducibility gives rise to a rich degree structure. The paper studies equivalence relations, which induce minimal degrees with respect to computable reducibility. Let $\Gamma$ be one of the following classes: $\Sigma^0_{\alpha}$, $\Pi^0_{\alpha}$, $\Sigma^1_n$, or $\Pi^1_n$, where $\alpha \geq 2$ is a computable ordinal and $n$ is a non-zero natural number. We prove that there are infinitely many pairwise incomparable minimal equivalence relations that are properly in $\Gamma$.