Maths encyclopedia and lessons  
Search

Mathematics Encyclopedia and Lessons

 
     
 

Lessons

Popular
Subjects

algebra
arithmetic
calculus
equations
geometry
differential equations
trigonometry
number theory
probability theory
more
 

References

applied mathematics
mathematical games
mathematicians
more
 
 

Löb's theorem

In mathematical logic, Löb's theorem states that in a theory with Peano arithmetic, for any formula P, if it is provable that "if P is provable then P", then P is provable. I.e.

if PA \vdash Bew(\# P) \rightarrow P, then PA \vdash P

where Bew(#P) means that the formula with Gödel number P is provable.

Löb's theorem in provability logic

Provability logic abstracts away from the details of encodings used in Gödel's incompleteness theorems by expressing the provability of φ in the given system in the language of modal logic, by means of the modality \Box \phi.

Then we can formalize Löb's theorem by the axiom \Box(\Box P\rightarrow P)\rightarrow \Box P, known as axiom GL (for Gödel-Löb) (sometimes formalised by means of an inference rule that infers \Box P from \Box P\rightarrow P). The provability logic GL that results from taking the modal logic K4 and adding the above axiom GL is the most intensely investigated system in provability logic.

01-04-2007 01:18:14
The contents of this article are licensed from Wikipedia.org
under the GNU Free Documentation License. How to see transparent copy