arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to David Fernández-Duque.
We extend Fine's selection method to the setting of intuitionistic modal logic and use it to provide a model-theoretic proof that Fischer Servi-style intuitionistic $\sf K4$ has the finite model property.
We introduce spatio-temporal polyhedral reachability logics, extending dynamic topological logic with polyhedral semantics and a path-based spatial reachability operator. Formulas are interpreted over polyhedra, with admissible valuations ranging over polyhedral subsets; the spatial modality is interpreted as interior, the binary operator $γ(φ,ψ)$ expresses reachability of a $ψ$-point through a $φ$-region, and the temporal modalities are interpreted by a PL-homeomorphism and its inverse. We define h-dynamic reachability spaces and axiomatize the corresponding h-dynamic extensions of the known reachability logics of topological, finite, Alexandroff, and polyhedral spaces. The main result is soundness and completeness for the intended classes of invertible dynamical systems.
Goodstein's theorem states that a certain sequences based on exponential notation for the natural numbers are always finite. The result is independent of Peano arithmetic and is a prototypical example of a proof of termination by transfinite induction. A variant based instead on the Ackermann function has more recently been proposed by Arai et al., and instead is independent of the more powerful theory ${\sf ATR}_0$. However, this result is contingent on rather elaborate normal forms for natural numbers based on a `sandwiching' procedure. This leaves open both the question of whether the sandwiching procedure can be eliminated while retaining the full strength of the Ackermannian Goodstein principle, and whether other normal forms can lead to non-termination. In this article we settle these questions by showing that {\em any} Goodstein process based on the Ackermann function is terminating, and indeed the sandwiching procedure gives rise to Goodstein principles of maximal length. We thus obtain an equivalent principle which does not involve normal forms at all and immediately implies all Ackermannian Goodstein principles that have been considered. Our techniques provide a new approach to termination proofs, where terms in a sequence do not necessarily decrease in complexity, but instead are majorized by some ``master'' process, already known to be terminating.
We introduce the semantically-defined constructive master-modality logics $\sf CK^*$ and $\sf WK^*$, extending the basic constructive modal logic $\sf CK$ and the Wijesekera-style logic $\sf WK$ obtained by impossing infallibility. Using translations between our logics and fragments of $\sf PDL$, we show that both $\sf CK^*$ and $\sf WK^*$ are EXPTIME-complete and admit an exponential-size finite model property. In particular, for their diamond-free fragment, also studied by Afshari et al. and Celoni, we establish EXPTIME-completeness, thereby settling the conjecture of Afshari et al. As an application, we embed $\sf CS4$ and $\sf WS4$ into the master-modality logics, showing that their validity problems are in EXPTIME.
The topological semantics of modal logic has been an active area of research ever since their introduction in the 1940s, with attention shifting in recent years from standard unimodal logic to more expressive frameworks. In particular, an Until-like path-reachability modality has recently been studied in Bezhanishvili et al. (2024) in polyhedral semantics; this paper investigates its topological counterpart. Focusing on the language combining said modality with the classical Cantor derivative modality, we exhibit an axiomatic system sound and complete both for the class of T1 topologies and for the class of all metric spaces, and establish its decidability. We also axiomatize the logic of all topological models in a weaker language obtained by substituting the closure modality for the Cantor derivative. To prove our results, we introduce an equivalent neighborhood-like semantics allowing for the finite model property.
The logics $\mathsf{CS4}$ and $\mathsf{IS4}$ are the two leading intuitionistic variants of the modal logic $\mathsf{S4}$. Whether the finite model property holds for each of these logics have been long-standing open problems. It was recently shown that $\mathsf{IS4}$ has the finite frame property and thus the finite model property. In this paper, we prove that $\mathsf{CS4}$ also enjoys the finite frame property. Additionally, we investigate the following three logics closely related to $\mathsf{IS4}$. The logic $\mathsf{GS4}$ is obtained by adding the Gödel--Dummett axiom to $\mathsf{IS4}$; it is both a superintuitionistic and a fuzzy logic and has previously been given a real-valued semantics. We provide an alternative birelational semantics and prove strong completeness with respect to this semantics. The extension $\mathsf{GS4^c}$ of $\mathsf{GS4}$ corresponds to requiring a crisp accessibility relation on the real-valued semantics. We give $\mathsf{GS4^c}$ a birelational semantics corresponding to an extra confluence condition on the $\mathsf{GS4}$ birelational semantics and prove strong completeness. Neither of these two logics have the finite model property with respect to their real-valued semantics, but we prove that they have the finite frame property for their birelational semantics. Establishing the finite birelational frame property immediately establishes decidability, which was previously open for these two logics. Our proofs yield NEXPTIME upper bounds for $\mathsf{CS4}$, $\mathsf{GS4}$, and $\mathsf{GS4^c}$. The logic $\mathsf{S4I}$ is obtained from $\mathsf{IS4}$ by reversing the roles of the modal and relations intuitionistic in the birelational semantics. We also prove the finite frame property, and thereby decidability, for $\mathsf{S4I}$, although our proof does not yield an elementary complexity bound.
Expanding products of modal logics are bimodal logics obtained from the combination of a `horizontal component' logic and a `vertical component' logic, lying between the fusion and the Cartesian product of the two logics. Gabelaia et al. showed that expanding products are often decidable when the first component is Noetherian, although their methods are semantical and do not yield complete axiomatisations. They do, however, propose a candidate, dubbed the expanding commutator of the two logics and known to be complete in many `non-Noetherian' cases. In this paper, we consider various expanding products of modal logics whose vertical component is $\sf GL$. We show that the standard axiomatisation is complete when the horizontal component is either $ {\sf K4}$ or $ {\sf GL} $, but incomplete when it is ${\sf Grz}$ or any logic between ${\sf K4.3}$ and ${\sf Grz.3}$, thus yielding a partial solution to a question posed by Gabelaia et al. more than two decades ago.
We develop polytopological semantics for various constructive, intuitionistic, and Gödel--Dummett variations of $\mathsf{K4}$ and $\mathsf{S4}$. In our models, intuitionistic and modal operators are interpreted via various topologies over a single set, equipped with either the closure or derivative operators. We identify regularity conditions to ensure that spaces validate each of our target logics and prove that all the logics considered are sound and strongly complete with respect to their respective semantics.
In arXiv:2508.14768, a variant of Goodstein's original process was recently introduced which, given a set $B\subseteq \mathbb{N}$ of bases, writes each $n\in\mathbb{N}$ in $B$-normal form, namely $n=b^ea+r$, where $b\in B$ the greatest base below $n$. The numbers $e$ and $r$ are then recursively written in $B$-normal form, and finally each base of $B$ is replaced by a corresponding base of some other set $C\subseteq \mathbb{N}$. The resulting process was shown to terminate and to be independent of $\mathsf{KP}$, but the proofs relied on two different ordinal assignments: one monotone but not tight enough to establish independence, and another suitable for independence but not monotone and thus ineffective for proving termination. We introduce a new ordinal assignment that simultaneously yields termination and independence, thereby revealing the `true' ordinals associated with the numbers in the process. This assignment allows us to investigate which restrictions to impose on the process in order for the proof-theoretic strength of its termination to lie between the systems $\mathsf{RCA}_0$, $\mathsf{ACA}_0$, $\mathsf{ATR}_0$ and $\mathsf{KP}$.
The relationship between intuitionistic or intermediate logics and logic programming has been extensively studied, prominently featuring Pearce's equilibrium logic and Osorio's safe beliefs. Equilibrium logic admits a fixpoint characterization based on the logic of here-and-there, akin to theory completion in default and autoepistemic logics. Safe beliefs are similarly defined via a fixpoint operator, albeit under the semantics of intuitionistic or other intermediate logics. In this paper, we investigate the logical foundations of Temporal Answer Set Programming through the lens of Temporal Equilibrium Logic, a formalism combining equilibrium logic with linear-time temporal operators. We lift the seminal approaches of Pearce and Osorio to the temporal setting, establishing a formal correspondence between temporal intuitionistic logic and temporal logic programming. Our results deepen the theoretical underpinnings of Temporal Answer Set Programming and provide new avenues for research in temporal reasoning.
There has been an increasing interest in topological semantics for epistemic logic, which has been shown to be useful for, e.g., modelling evidence, degrees of belief, and self-reference. We introduce a polytopological PDL capable of expressing common knowledge and various generalizations and show it has the finite model property over closure spaces but not over Cantor derivative spaces. The latter is shown by embedding a version of linear temporal logic with `past', which does not have the finite model property.
The original Goodstein process is based on writing numbers in hereditary $b$-exponential normal form: that is, each number $n$ is written in some base $b\geq 2$ as $n=b^ea+r$, with $e$ and $r$ iteratively being written in hereditary $b$-exponential normal form. We define a new process which generalises the original by writing expressions in terms of a hierarchy of bases $B$, instead of a single base $b$. In particular, the `digit' $a$ may itself be written with respect to a smaller base $b'$. We show that this new process always terminates, but termination is independent of Kripke-Platek set theory, or other theories of Bachmann-Howard strength.
We study strictly positive logics in the language $\mathscr{L}^+$, which constructs formulas from $\top$, propositional variables, conjunction, and diamond modalities. We begin with the base system $\bf K^+$, the strictly positive fragment of polymodal $\bf K$, and examine its extensions obtained by adding axioms such as monotonicity, transitivity, and the hierarchy-sensitive interaction axiom $(\sf J)$, which governs the interplay between modalities of different strengths. The strongest of these systems is the Reflection Calculus ($\bf RC$), which corresponds to the strictly positive fragment of polymodal $\bf GLP$. Our main contribution is a formulation of these logics as tree rewriting systems, establishing both adequacy and completeness through a correspondence between $\mathscr{L}^+$ formulas and inductively defined modal trees. We also provide a normalization of the rewriting process, which has exponential complexity when axiom $(\sf J)$ is absent; otherwise we provide a double-exponential bound. By introducing tree rewriting calculi as practical provability tools for strictly positive logics, we aim to deepen their proof-theoretic analysis and computational applications.
The $Reflection$ $Calculus$ ($\mathcal{\mathbf{RC}}$) is the fragment of the polymodal logic $\mathcal{\mathbf{GLP}}$ in the language $L^+$ whose formulas are built up from $\top$ and propositional variables using conjunction and diamond modalities. $\mathcal{\mathbf{RC}}$ is complete with respect to the arithmetical interpretation that associates modalities with reflection principles and has various applications in proof theory, specifically ordinal analysis. We present ${\sf TRC}$, a tree rewriting system that is adequate and complete with respect to $\mathcal{\mathbf{RC}}$, designed to simulate $\mathcal{\mathbf{RC}}$ derivations. ${\sf TRC}$ is based on a given correspondence between formulas of $L^{+}$ and modal trees ${\sf Tree}^{\Diamond}$. Modal trees are presented as an inductive type allowing precise positioning and transformations which give rise to the formal definition of rewriting rules and facilitates formalization in proof assistants. Furthermore, we provide a rewrite normalization theorem for systematic rule application. The normalization of the rewriting process enhances proof search efficiency and facilitates implementation. By providing ${\sf TRC}$ as an efficient provability tool for $\mathcal{\mathbf{RC}}$, we aim to help on the study of various aspects of the logic such as the subformula property and rule admissibility.
Polyhedral semantics is a recently introduced branch of spatial modal logic, in which modal formulas are interpreted as piecewise linear subsets of an Euclidean space. Polyhedral semantics for the basic modal language has already been well investigated. However, for many practical applications of polyhedral semantics, it is advantageous to enrich the basic modal language with a reachability modality. Recently, a language with an Until-like spatial modality has been introduced, with demonstrated applicability to the analysis of 3D meshes via model checking. In this paper, we exhibit an axiom system for this logic, and show that it is complete with respect to polyhedral semantics. The proof consists of two major steps: First, we show that this logic, which is built over Grzegorczyk's system $\mathsf{Grz}$, has the finite model property. Subsequently, we show that every formula satisfied in a finite poset is also satisfied in a polyhedral model, thereby establishing polyhedral completeness.
Goodstein's principle is arguably the first purely number-theoretic statement known to be independent of Peano arithmetic. It involves sequences of natural numbers which at first appear to grow very quickly, but eventually decrease to zero. These sequences are defined relative to a notation system based on exponentiation for the natural numbers. In this article, we explore notions of optimality for such notation systems and apply them to the classical Goodstein process, to a weaker variant based on multiplication rather than exponentiation, and to a stronger variant based on the Ackermann function. In particular, we introduce the notion of base-change maximality, and show how it leads to far-reaching extensions of Goodstein's result.
We prove that Buchholz's system of fundamental sequences for the $\vartheta$ function enjoys various regularity conditions, including the Bachmann property. We partially extend these results to variants of the $\vartheta$ function, including a version without addition for countable ordinals. We conclude that the Hardy functions based on these notation systems enjoy natural monotonicity properties and majorize all functions defined by primitive recursion along $\vartheta(\varepsilon_{Ω+1})$.
The Baire algebra of a topological space $X$ is the quotient of the algebra of all subsets of $X$ modulo the meager sets. We show that this Boolean algebra can be endowed with a natural closure operator, resulting in a closure algebra which we denote ${\bf Baire}(X)$. We identify the modal logic of such algebras to be the well-known system $\sf S5$, and prove soundness and strong completeness for the cases where $X$ is crowded and either completely metrizable and continuum-sized or locally compact Hausdorff. We also show that every extension of $\sf S5$ is the modal logic of a subalgebra of ${\bf Baire}(X)$, and that soundness and strong completeness also holds in the language with the universal modality.