Extension by new constant and function names
Appearance
In mathematical logic, conservativity theorem states the following: Suppose that a closed formula is a theorem of a first-order theory . Let be a theory obtained from by extending its language with new constants and adding a new axiom . Then is a conservative extension of , which means that the theory has the same set of theorems in the original language (i.e., without constants ) as the theory .
In a more general setting, conservativity theorem is formulated for extensions of a first-order theory by introducing new functional symbol:
- Suppose that a closed formula is a theorem of a first-order theory , where we denote . Let be a theory obtained from by extending its language with new functional symbol (of arity ) and adding a new axiom . Then is a conservative extension of , i.e. the theories and prove the same theorems not involving the functional symbol ).