Löwenheim–Skolem theorem


In mathematical logic, the Löwenheim–Skolem theorem is a theorem on the existence and cardinality of models, named after Leopold Löwenheim and Thoralf Skolem.
The precise formulation is given below. It implies that if a countable first-order theory has an infinite model, then for every infinite cardinal number κ it has a model of size κ, and that no first-order theory with an infinite model can have a unique model up to isomorphism.
As a consequence, first-order theories are unable to control the cardinality of their infinite models.
The Löwenheim–Skolem theorem is one of the two key properties, along with the compactness theorem, that are used in Lindström's theorem to characterize first-order logic.
In general, the Löwenheim–Skolem theorem does not hold in stronger logics such as second-order logic.

Theorem

In its general form, the Löwenheim–Skolem Theorem states that for every signature σ, every infinite σ-structure M and every infinite cardinal number κ ≥ |σ|, there is a σ-structure N such that |N| = κ and such that
The theorem is often divided into two parts corresponding to the two bullets above. The part of the theorem asserting that a structure has elementary substructures of all smaller infinite cardinalities is known as the downward Löwenheim–Skolem Theorem. The part of the theorem asserting that a structure has elementary extensions of all larger cardinalities is known as the upward Löwenheim–Skolem Theorem.

Discussion

Below we elaborate on the general concept of signatures and structures.

Concepts

Signatures

A signature consists of a set of function symbols Sfunc, a set of relation symbols Srel, and a function representing the arity of function and relation symbols. In the context of first-order logic, a signature is sometimes called a language. It is called countable if the set of function and relation symbols in it is countable, and in general the cardinality of a signature is the cardinality of the set of all the symbols it contains.
A first-order theory consists of a fixed signature and a fixed set of sentences in that signature. Theories are often specified by giving a list of axioms that generate the theory, or by giving a structure and taking the theory to consist of the sentences satisfied by the structure.

Structures / Models

Given a signature σ, a σ-structure M
is a concrete interpretation of the symbols in σ. It consists of an underlying set together with an interpretation of the function and relation symbols of σ. An interpretation of a constant symbol of σ in M is simply an element of M. More generally, an interpretation of an n-ary function symbol f is a function from Mn to M. Similarly, an interpretation of a relation symbol R is an n-ary relation on M, i.e. a subset of Mn.
A substructure of a σ-structure M is obtained by taking a subset N of M which is closed under the interpretations of all the function symbols in σ, and then restricting the interpretations of the relation symbols to N. An elementary substructure is a very special case of this; in particular an elementary substructure satisfies exactly the same first-order sentences as the original structure.

Consequences

The statement given in the introduction follows immediately by taking M to be an infinite model of the theory. The proof of the upward part of the theorem also shows that a theory with arbitrarily large finite models must have an infinite model; sometimes this is considered to be part of the theorem.
A theory is called categorical if it has only one model, up to isomorphism. This term was introduced by, and for some time thereafter mathematicians hoped they could put mathematics on a solid foundation by describing a categorical first-order theory of some version of set theory. The Löwenheim–Skolem theorem dealt a first blow to this hope, as it implies that a first-order theory which has an infinite model cannot be categorical. Later, in 1931, the hope was shattered completely by Gödel's incompleteness theorem.
Many consequences of the Löwenheim–Skolem theorem seemed counterintuitive to logicians in the early 20th century, as the distinction between first-order and non-first-order properties was not yet understood. One such consequence is the existence of uncountable models of true arithmetic, which satisfy every first-order induction axiom but have non-inductive subsets.
Let N denote the natural numbers and R the reals. It follows from the theorem that the theory of has uncountable models, and that the theory of has a countable model. There are, of course, axiomatizations characterizing and up to isomorphism.
The Löwenheim–Skolem theorem shows that these axiomatizations cannot be first-order.
For example, in the theory of the real numbers, the completeness of a linear order used to characterize R as a complete ordered field, is a non-first-order property.
Another consequence that was considered particularly troubling is the existence of a countable model of set theory, which nevertheless must satisfy the sentence saying the real numbers are uncountable. This counterintuitive situation came to be known as Skolem's paradox; it shows that the notion of countability is not absolute.

Proof sketch

Downward part

For each first-order -formula the axiom of choice implies the existence of a function
such that, for all, either
or
Applying the axiom of choice again we get a function from the first-order formulas to such functions
The family of functions gives rise to a preclosure operator on the power set of
for
Iterating countably many times results in a closure operator Taking an arbitrary subset such that, and having defined one can see that also Then is an elementary substructure of by the Tarski–Vaught test.
The trick used in this proof is essentially due to Skolem, who introduced function symbols for the Skolem functions into the language. One could also define the as partial functions such that is defined if and only if The only important point is that is a preclosure operator such that contains a solution for every formula with parameters in which has a solution in and that

Upward part

First, one extends the signature by adding a new constant symbol for every element of M. The complete theory of M for the extended signature σ' is called the elementary diagram of M. In the next step one adds κ many new constant symbols to the signature and adds to the elementary diagram of M the sentences c ≠ c' for any two distinct new constant symbols c and c'. Using the compactness theorem, the resulting theory is easily seen to be consistent. Since its models must have cardinality at least κ, the downward part of this theorem guarantees the existence of a model N which has cardinality exactly κ. It contains an isomorphic copy of M as an elementary substructure.

Historical notes

This account is based mainly on. To understand the early history of model theory one must distinguish between syntactical consistency and satisfiability. Somewhat surprisingly, even before the completeness theorem made the distinction unnecessary, the term consistent was used sometimes in one sense and sometimes in the other.
The first significant result in what later became model theory was Löwenheim's theorem in Leopold Löwenheim's publication "Über Möglichkeiten im Relativkalkül" :
Löwenheim's paper was actually concerned with the more general Peirce-Schröder calculus of relatives. He also used the now antiquated notations of Ernst Schröder. For a summary of the paper in English and using modern notations see.
According to the received historical view, Löwenheim's proof was faulty because it implicitly used Kőnig's lemma without proving it, although the lemma was not yet a published result at the time. In a revisionist account, considers that Löwenheim's proof was complete.
gave a proof using formulas in what would later be called Skolem normal form and relying on the axiom of choice:
also proved the following weaker version without the axiom of choice:
simplified. Finally, Anatoly Ivanovich Maltsev proved the Löwenheim–Skolem theorem in its full generality. He cited a note by Skolem, according to which the theorem had been proved by Alfred Tarski in a seminar in 1928. Therefore, the general theorem is sometimes known as the Löwenheim–Skolem–Tarski theorem. But Tarski did not remember his proof, and it remains a mystery how he could do it without the compactness theorem.
It is somewhat ironic that Skolem's name is connected with the upward direction of the theorem as well as with the downward direction:

Historical publications

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