2013-2014 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog (without addenda) 
    
    Apr 19, 2024  
2013-2014 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog (without addenda) [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

PL 3003 Metalogic

3 Credits
What is the relation between truth and proof? Are there true statements about natural numbers that cannot, in principle, be proven? Can an algorithm be written to decide which statements about numbers are provable and which are not? What is the mathematical basis of the concept of a mechanically implementable algorithm (i.e., a computer program)? What does all of this have to do with logic? This course addresses these and other questions by investigating the properties of propositional and 1st-order logic. Topics include the soundness and completeness of formal systems of propositional and 1st-order logic, the Löwenheim-Skolem and Compactness theorems for 1st-order logic, Gödel’s incompleteness theorems for formal arithmetic, and Turing machines and the notions of computability and undecidability.

Prerequisite(s): PL 2003  or permission of the instructor.
Note: Satisfies a humanities and social sciences elective.