Generalized Decidability via Brouwer Trees

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Authors: Tom de Jong, Nicolai Kraus, Aref Mohammadzadeh, Fredrik Nordvall Forsberg
Cited by: 0

Abstract

In the setting of constructive mathematics, we suggest and study a framework for decidability of properties, which allows for finer distinctions than just "decidable, semidecidable, or undecidable". We work in homotopy type theory and use Brouwer ordinals to specify the level of decidability of a property. In this framework, we express the property that a proposition is $α$-decidable, for a Brouwer ordinal $α$, and show that it generalizes decidability and semidecidability. Further generalizing known results, we show that $α$-decidable propositions are closed under binary conjunction, and discuss for which $α$ they are closed under binary disjunction. We prove that if each $P(i)$ is semidecidable, then the countable meet $\forall i\in \mathbb N. P(i)$ is $ω^2$-decidable, and similar results for countable joins and iterated quantifiers. We also discuss the relationship with countable choice. All our results are formalized in Cubical Agda.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Logic programming and type systems Computability AI Algorithms Advanced Topology and Set Theory

Publication details

Journal / source
Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham)
Publication date
1 January 2026
Language
EN