A characterization of definability of second-order generalized quantifiers with applications to non-definability

Authors
Publication date 09-2014
Journal Journal of Computer and System Sciences
Volume | Issue number 80 | 6
Pages (from-to) 1152-1162
Organisations
  • Faculty of Humanities (FGw)
  • Interfacultary Research - Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC)
Abstract We study definability of second-order generalized quantifiers. We show that the question whether a second-order generalized quantifier Q1 is definable in terms of another quantifier Q2, the base logic being monadic second-order logic, reduces to the question if a quantifier Q1⋆ is definable in FO(Q2⋆,<,+,×) for certain first-order quantifiers Q1⋆ and Q2⋆. We use our characterization to show new definability and non-definability results for second-order generalized quantifiers. We also show that the monadic second-order majority quantifier Most1 is not definable in second-order logic.
Document type Article
Note In special issue: 18th Workshop on Logic, Language, Information and Computation (WoLLIC 2011)
Language English
Published at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcss.2014.04.007
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