Date of Original Version
6-19-2002
Type
Technical Report
Abstract or Table of Contents
Elementary arithmetic (also known as "elementary function arithmetic") is a fragment of first-order arithmetic so weak that it cannot prove the totality of an iterated exponential function. Surprisingly, however, the theory turns out to be remarkably robust. I will discuss formal results that show that many theorems of number theory and combinatorics are derivable in elementary arithmetic, and try to place these results in a broader philosophical context.
Comments
CMU-PHIL-134