•  8
    A Hierarchy Theorem for Lindstrom Quantifiers
    with Juha Oikkonen
    Journal of Symbolic Logic 54 (2): 631. 1989.
  •  10
    On Second Order Logic
    Philosophical Inquiry 39 (1): 59-62. 2015.
  •  1022
    A taste of set theory for philosophers
    Journal of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research (2): 143-163. 2011.
  •  93
    On definability in dependence logic
    with Juha Kontinen
    Journal of Logic, Language and Information 18 (3): 317-332. 2009.
    We study the expressive power of open formulas of dependence logic introduced in Väänänen [Dependence logic (Vol. 70 of London Mathematical Society Student Texts), 2007]. In particular, we answer a question raised by Wilfrid Hodges: how to characterize the sets of teams definable by means of identity only in dependence logic, or equivalently in independence friendly logic.
  •  50
    Erratum to: On Definability in Dependence Logic (review)
    Journal of Logic, Language and Information 20 (1): 133-134. 2011.
  •  43
    Aesthetics and the Dream of Objectivity: Notes from Set Theory
    Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 58 (1): 83-98. 2015.
    In this paper, we consider various ways in which aesthetic value bears on, if not serves as evidence for, the truth of independent statements in set theory.... the aesthetic issue, which in practice will also for me be the decisive factor—John von Neumann, letter to Carnap, 1931For me, it is the aesthetics which may very well be the final arbiter—P. J. Cohen, 2002
  • Set Theory
    Journal of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research 27 (1). 2010.
  •  12
    The hierarchy theorem for generalized quantifiers
    with Lauri Hella and Kerkko Luosto
    Journal of Symbolic Logic 61 (3): 802-817. 1996.
    The concept of a generalized quantifier of a given similarity type was defined in [12]. Our main result says that on finite structures different similarity types give rise to different classes of generalized quantifiers. More exactly, for every similarity typetthere is a generalized quantifier of typetwhich is not definable in the extension of first order logic by all generalized quantifiers of type smaller thant. This was proved for unary similarity types by Per Lindström [17] with a counting a…Read more
  •  9
    Stationary Sets and Infinitary Logic
    with Saharon Shelah
    Journal of Symbolic Logic 65 (3): 1311-1320. 2000.
    Let K$^0_\lambda$ be the class of structures $\langle\lambda,
  •  12
    Preface
    with S. Barry Cooper, Herman Geuvers, and Anand Pillay
    Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 156 (1): 1-2. 2008.
  •  49
    Partially ordered connectives
    Zeitschrift fur mathematische Logik und Grundlagen der Mathematik 38 (1): 361-372. 1992.
    We show that a coherent theory of partially ordered connectives can be developed along the same line as partially ordered quantification. We estimate the expressive power of various partially ordered connectives and use methods like Ehrenfeucht games and infinitary logic to get various undefinability results
  •  61
    Second‐Order Logic and Set Theory
    Philosophy Compass 10 (7): 463-478. 2015.
    Both second-order logic and set theory can be used as a foundation for mathematics, that is, as a formal language in which propositions of mathematics can be expressed and proved. We take it upon ourselves in this paper to compare the two approaches, second-order logic on one hand and set theory on the other hand, evaluating their merits and weaknesses. We argue that we should think of first-order set theory as a very high-order logic
  •  22
    Trees and $Pi^11$-Subsets of $^{omega_1}omega1$
    with Alan Mekler
    Journal of Symbolic Logic 58 (3): 1052-1070. 1993.
    We study descriptive set theory in the space $^{\omega_1}\omega_1$ by letting trees with no uncountable branches play a similar role as countable ordinals in traditional descriptive set theory. By using such trees, we get, for example, a covering property for the class of $\Pi^1_1$-sets of $^{\omega_1}\omega_1$. We call a family $\mathscr{U}$ of trees universal for a class $\mathscr{V}$ of trees if $\mathscr{U} \subseteq \mathscr{V}$ and every tree in $\mathscr{V}$ can be order-preservingly mapp…Read more
  •  61
    Internal Categoricity in Arithmetic and Set Theory
    with Tong Wang
    Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic 56 (1): 121-134. 2015.
    We show that the categoricity of second-order Peano axioms can be proved from the comprehension axioms. We also show that the categoricity of second-order Zermelo–Fraenkel axioms, given the order type of the ordinals, can be proved from the comprehension axioms. Thus these well-known categoricity results do not need the so-called “full” second-order logic, the Henkin second-order logic is enough. We also address the question of “consistency” of these axiom systems in the second-order sense, that…Read more
  •  59
    Axiomatizing first-order consequences in dependence logic
    with Juha Kontinen
    Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 164 (11): 1101-1117. 2013.
    Dependence logic, introduced in Väänänen [11], cannot be axiomatized. However, first-order consequences of dependence logic sentences can be axiomatized, and this is what we shall do in this paper. We give an explicit axiomatization and prove the respective Completeness Theorem
  •  14
    Boolean valued models and generalized quantifiers
    Annals of Mathematical Logic 18 (3): 193-225. 1980.
  •  38
    Quantum Team Logic and Bell’s Inequalities
    with Tapani Hyttinen and Gianluca Paolini
    Review of Symbolic Logic 8 (4): 722-742. 2015.
    A logical approach to Bell's Inequalities of quantum mechanics has been introduced by Abramsky and Hardy [2]. We point out that the logical Bell's Inequalities of [2] are provable in the probability logic of Fagin, Halpern and Megiddo [4]. Since it is now considered empirically established that quantum mechanics violates Bell's Inequalities, we introduce a modified probability logic, that we call quantum team logic, in which Bell's Inequalities are not provable, and prove a Completeness Theorem …Read more
  •  16
    Reflection of Long Game Formulas
    with Heikki Heikkilä
    Mathematical Logic Quarterly 40 (3): 381-392. 1994.
    We study game formulas the truth of which is determined by a semantical game of uncountable length. The main theme is the study of principles stating reflection of these formulas in various admissible sets. This investigation leads to two weak forms of strict-II11 reflection . We show that admissible sets such as H and Lω2 which fail to have strict-II11 reflection, may or may not, depending on set-theoretic hypotheses satisfy one or both of these weaker forms
  •  15
    Positional strategies in long ehrenfeucht–fraïssé games
    with S. Shelah and B. Veličković
    Journal of Symbolic Logic 80 (1): 285-300. 2015.
  •  42
    Propositional logics of dependence
    with Fan Yang
    Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 167 (7): 557-589. 2016.
  •  17
    Game-theoretic inductive definability
    with Juha Oikkonen
    Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 65 (3): 265-306. 1993.
    Oikkonen, J. and J. Väänänen, Game-theoretic inductive definability, Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 65 265-306. We use game-theoretic ideas to define a generalization of the notion of inductive definability. This approach allows induction along non-well-founded trees. Our definition depends on an underlying partial ordering of the objects. In this ordering every countable ascending sequence is assumed to have a unique supremum which enables us to go over limits. We establish basic properties o…Read more
  •  113
    We study definability in terms of monotone generalized quantifiers satisfying Isomorphism Closure, Conservativity and Extension. Among the quantifiers with the latter three properties - here called CE quantifiers - one finds the interpretations of determiner phrases in natural languages. The property of monotonicity is also linguistically ubiquitous, though some determiners like an even number of are highly non-monotone. They are nevertheless definable in terms of monotone CE quantifiers: we giv…Read more
  •  115
    From if to bi
    with Samson Abramsky
    Synthese 167 (2). 2009.
    We take a fresh look at the logics of informational dependence and independence of Hintikka and Sandu and Väänänen, and their compositional semantics due to Hodges. We show how Hodges’ semantics can be seen as a special case of a general construction, which provides a context for a useful completeness theorem with respect to a wider class of models. We shed some new light on each aspect of the logic. We show that the natural propositional logic carried by the semantics is the logic of Bunched Im…Read more
  •  47
    Henkin and function quantifiers
    with Michael Krynicki
    Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 43 (3): 273-292. 1989.
  •  32
    An Ehrenfeucht‐Fraïssé game for Lω1ω
    with Tong Wang
    Mathematical Logic Quarterly 59 (4-5): 357-370. 2013.
    In this paper we develop an Ehrenfeucht‐Fraïssé game for. Unlike the standard Ehrenfeucht‐Fraïssé games which are modeled solely after the behavior of quantifiers, this new game also takes into account the behavior of connectives in logic. We prove the adequacy theorem for this game. We also apply the new game to prove complexity results about infinite binary strings.
  •  46
    The härtig quantifier: A survey
    with Heinrich Herre, Michał Krynicki, and Alexandr Pinus
    Journal of Symbolic Logic 56 (4): 1153-1183. 1991.
    A fundamental notion in a large part of mathematics is the notion of equicardinality. The language with Hartig quantifier is, roughly speaking, a first-order language in which the notion of equicardinality is expressible. Thus this language, denoted by LI, is in some sense very natural and has in consequence special interest. Properties of LI are studied in many papers. In [BF, Chapter VI] there is a short survey of some known results about LI. We feel that a more extensive exposition of these r…Read more
  •  31
    Trees and Ehrenfeucht–Fraı̈ssé games
    with Stevo Todorčević
    Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 100 (1-3): 69-97. 1999.
    Trees are natural generalizations of ordinals and this is especially apparent when one tries to find an uncountable analogue of the concept of the Scott-rank of a countable structure. The purpose of this paper is to introduce new methods in the study of an ordering between trees whose analogue is the usual ordering between ordinals. For example, one of the methods is the tree-analogue of the successor operation on the ordinals