Diagonalization in Formal Mathematics

• Autor(a) principal: Santos, Paulo Guilherme Domingos Canha Moreira dos
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/110484
• topic: Diagonalization; General Theory of Diagonalization; Self-Reference; Diagonalization Lemma; Strong Diagonalization Lemma; Paradox; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Naturais::Matemáticas

The use of diagonalization reasonings is transversal to the Mathematical practise. Since Cantor, diagonalization reasonings are used in a great variety of areas that vanish from Topology to Logic. The objective of the present thesis was to study the formal aspects of diagonalization in Logic and more generally in the Mathematical practise. The main goal was to find a formal theory that is behind important diagonalization phenomena in Mathematics. We started by the study of diagonalization in theories of Arithmetic: Diagonalization Lemma and self-reference. In particular, we argued that important properties related to self-reference are not decidable, and we argued that the diagonalization of formulas is substantially different from the diagonalization of terms, more precisely, the Diagonal Lemma cannot prove the Strong Diagonal Lemma. We studied in detail Yablo’s Paradox. By presenting a minimal theory to express Yablo’s Paradox, we argued that Yablo’s Paradox is not a paradox about Arithmetic. From that theory and with the help of some notions of Temporal Logic, we claimed that Yablo’s Paradox is self-referential. After that, we studied several paradoxes — the Liar, Russell’s Paradox, and Curry’s Paradox— and Löb’s Theorem, and we presented a common origin to those paradoxes and theorem: Curry System. Curry Systems were studied in detail and a consistency result for specific conditions was offered. Finally, we presented a general theory of diagonalization, we exemplified the formal use of the theory, and we studied some results of Mathematics using that general theory. All the work that we present on this thesis is original. The fourth chapter gave rise to a paper by the author ([SK17]) and the third chapter will also give rise in a short period of time to a paper. Regarding the other chapters, the author, together with his Advisors, is also preparing a paper.