The proof-theoretic ordinal of a logical theory

Published: Nov. 21, 2021, 5 a.m.

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Ordinal analysis seeks to determine the strength of a logical theory by assigning an ordinal to it.\\xa0 Which one?\\xa0 In this episode I describe a definition of the proof-theoretic ordinal of a logical theory from a paper by proof theorist Michael Rathjen.\\xa0 It is basically a measure of how strong an induction principle is derivable in the theory.\\xa0 (The first parts of the paper are pretty accessible, but the rest gets hard, at least for me.)

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