I Is the negation of the statement in the book correct too?

member 587159
Hello.

I'm currently studying about natural numbers and I encountered the theorem of definition by recursion:

This states:

Let ##H## be a set, let ##e \in H## and let ##k: H \rightarrow H## be a function. Then there is a unique function ##f: \mathbb{N} \rightarrow H## such that ##f(1) = e## and ##f \circ s = k \circ f##

I will not post the entire proof here, as it is a quite long proof, but the part where I have a question about.

In the proof, they prove that:

If ##(n,y) \in f## and ##(n,y) \neq (1,e)##, then there is some ##(m,u) \in f## such that ##(n,y) = (s(m), k(u))##

They do this by deriving a contradiction. I quote the book:

Suppose to the contrary that there is some ##(r,t) \in f## such that ##(r,t) \neq (1,e)##, and that there is no ##(m,u) \in f## such that ##(r,t) = (s(m),k(u))##

Writing out the statement we want to proof with symbols, we get:

##(n,y) \in f \land (n,y) \neq (1,e) \Rightarrow \exists (m,u) \in f : (n,y) = (s(m), k(u))##

I think, if we negate this (to start with a contradiction), we should have instead:

##(n,y) \in f \land (n,y) \neq (1,e) \land \forall (m,u) \in f : (n,y) \neq (s(m), k(u))##
and thus, since the book recalls ##(n,y) = (r,t)## since ##(n, y)## was used previously:

##(r,t) \in f \land (r,t) \neq (1,e) \Rightarrow \forall (m,u) \in f : (r,t) \neq (s(m), k(u))##

Is the statement in the book correct too and are both logically equivalent or...?

Thanks in advance
 
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What is s?

Something went wrong with formatting in the second part of the post.
 
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mfb said:
What is s?

Something went wrong with formatting in the second part of the post.

Trying to fix it, I don't find the mistake:

s is a function ##\mathbb{N} \rightarrow \mathbb{N}## that is defined by the Peano Postulates.

EDIT: fixed the Latex
 
Okay, so we get f(1)=e, f(2)=k(e), f(3)=k(k(e)) and so on.

Replaying n by r and y by t doesn't change anything.
 
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mfb said:
Okay, so we get f(1)=e, f(2)=k(e), f(3)=k(k(e)) and so on.

Replaying n by r and y by t doesn't change anything.

Yes but that's not the question. They just do that because they used (n,y) previously and otherwise it could cause confusion.
 
You asked if they are equivalent?
The negation looks right.
 
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mfb said:
You asked if they are equivalent?
The negation looks right.

Yes, is the book's negation correct? And mine?
 
That's what I said.
 
mfb said:
That's what I said.

So they are equivalent? How can I verify that other than just thinking about it? Are there rules for?
 
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Math_QED said:
So they are equivalent?
Again: yes.
Wikipedia has a list of rules for negation.
 
  • #11
mfb said:
Again: yes.
Wikipedia has a list of rules for negation.

I don't see anything about negations involving quantifiers. But I guess it's obvious, although I'm somewhat curious how one should prove these things, if this is even possible. Maybe they are axioms.
 
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