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

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the logical negation of a statement related to the theorem of definition by recursion in the context of natural numbers. Participants are examining whether the negation presented in a book is correct and if it is logically equivalent to the negation proposed by one of the participants.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant presents a theorem involving a unique function defined by recursion and questions the correctness of a negation in the proof.
  • Another participant asks for clarification on the function s, which is defined by the Peano Postulates.
  • Several participants agree that the negation proposed by the original poster appears correct.
  • There is a discussion about whether the two negations are equivalent, with some participants affirming that they are.
  • One participant expresses curiosity about how to verify the equivalence of negations involving quantifiers and mentions a lack of resources on this topic.
  • Another participant suggests a reference to Wikipedia for rules regarding negation.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that the negation proposed by the original poster is correct, and some affirm that it is equivalent to the negation in the book. However, the discussion includes uncertainty about how to formally prove these equivalences, indicating that the topic remains somewhat unresolved.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about the rules for negation involving quantifiers and how to formally verify the equivalence of different negations.

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?
 
  • #10
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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