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2.6: The Completeness Theorem

  • Page ID
    121609
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    • 2.6.1: Introduction
      The completeness theorem is one of the most fundamental results about logic.
    • 2.6.2: Outline of the Proof
      The proof of the completeness theorem is a bit complex, and upon first reading it, it is easy to get lost. So let us outline the proof.
    • 2.6.3: Complete Consistent Sets of Sentences
      Complete sets of sentences leave no questions unanswered. For any sentence \(A\), \(\Gamma\) “says” if \(A\) is true or false.
    • 2.6.4: Henkin Expansion
      Part of the challenge in proving the completeness theorem is that the model we construct from a complete consistent set \(\Gamma\) must make all the quantified formulas in \(\Gamma\) true. In order to guarantee this, we use a trick due to Leon Henkin.
    • 2.6.5: Lindenbaum’s Lemma
      We now prove a lemma that shows that any consistent set of sentences is contained in some set of sentences which is not just consistent, but also complete.
    • 2.6.6: Construction of a Model
      Right now we are not concerned about \(=\), i.e., we only want to show that a consistent set \(\Gamma\) of sentences not containing \(=\) is satisfiable. We first extend \(\Gamma\) to a consistent, complete, and saturated set \(\Gamma^*\). In this case, the definition of a model \(M(\Gamma^*)\) is simple.
    • 2.6.7: Identity
      The construction of the term model given in the preceding section is enough to establish completeness for first-order logic for sets \(\Gamma\) that do not contain \(=\). It does not work, however, if \(=\) is present. We can fix this using a construction known as “factoring.”
    • 2.6.8: The Completeness Theorem
      Let’s combine our results: we arrive at the completeness theorem. Let \(\Gamma\) be a set of sentences. If \(\Gamma\) is consistent, it is satisfiable.
    • 2.6.9: The Compactness Theorem
      One important consequence of the completeness theorem is the compactness theorem. The compactness theorem states that if each finite subset of a set of sentences is satisfiable, the entire set is satisfiable—even if the set itself is infinite.
    • 2.6.10: A Direct Proof of the Compactness Theorem
      We can prove the Compactness Theorem directly, without appealing to the Completeness Theorem, using the same ideas as in the proof of the completeness theorem.
    • 2.6.11: The Löwenheim-Skolem Theorem
      The Löwenheim-Skolem Theorem says that if a theory has an infinite model, then it also has a model that is at most countably infinite.
    • 2.6.12: Summary


    This page titled 2.6: The Completeness Theorem is shared under a CC BY license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Richard Zach et al. (Open Logic Project) .

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