Luca Spada

The Dual Adjunction between MV-algebras and Tychonoff Spaces

We offer a proof of the duality theorem for finitely presented MV-algebras and rational polyhedra, a folklore and yet fundamental result. Our approach develops first a general dual adjunction between MV-algebras and subspaces of Tychonoff cubes, endowed with the transformations that are definable in the language of MV-algebras. We then show that this dual adjunction restricts to a duality between semisimple MV-algebras and closed subspaces of Tychonoff cubes. The duality theorem for finitely presented objects is obtained by a further specialisation. Our treatment is aimed at showing exactly which parts of the basic theory of MV-algebras are needed in order to establish these results, with an eye towards future generalisations.

Duality, projectivity, and unification in Łukasiewicz logic and MV-algebras

We prove that the unification type of Łukasiewicz (infinite-valued propositional) logic and of its equivalent algebraic semantics, the variety of MV-algebras, is nullary. The proof rests upon Ghilardiʼs algebraic characterisation of unification types in terms of projective objects, recent progress by Cabrer and Mundici in the investigation of projective MV-algebras, the categorical duality between finitely presented MV-algebras and rational polyhedra, and, finally, a homotopy-theoretic argument that exploits lifts of continuous maps to the universal covering space of the circle. We discuss the background to such diverse tools. In particular, we offer a detailed proof of the duality theorem for finitely presented MV-algebras and rational polyhedra—a fundamental result that, albeit known to specialists, seems to appear in print here for the first time.

Representation of MV-algebras by regular ultrapowers of [0, 1]

We present a uniform version of Di Nola Theorem, this enables to embed all MV-algebras of a bounded cardinality in an algebra of functions with values in a single non-standard ultrapower of the real interval [0,1]. This result also implies the existence, for any cardinal α, of a single MV-algebra in which all infinite MV-algebras of cardinality at most α embed. Recasting the above construction with iterated ultrapowers, we show how to construct such an algebra of values in a definable way, thus providing a sort of “canonical” set of values for the functional representation.

μMV-algebras

We study an extension of MV algebras, called μMV algebras, in which minimal and maximal fixed points are definable. The first result is that μMV algebras are term-wise equivalent to divisible MV∆algebras, i.e. a combination of two known extensions of MV algebras: divisible MV algebras [4] and MV∆algebras [6]. Using methods from the two known extensions we derive a number of results about μMV algebras; among others: subdirect representation, standard completeness, amalgamation property. Keyword: Fixed Point, Many Valued Logic, MV algebras

MV-algebras, infinite dimensional polyhedra, and natural dualities

We connect the dual adjunction between MV-algebras and Tychonoff spaces with the general theory of natural dualities, and provide a number of applications. In doing so, we simplify the aforementioned construction by observing that there is no need of using presentations of MV-algebras in order to obtain the adjunction. We also provide a description of the dual maps that is intrinsically geometric, and thus avoids the syntactic notion of definable map. Finally, we apply these results to better explain the relation between semisimple tensor products and coproducts of MV-algebras, and we extend beyond the finitely generated case the characterisations of strongly semisimple and polyhedral MV-algebras.

Advances in the theory of μŁΠ algebras

Recently an expansion of ŁΠ1/2 logic with fixed points has been considered [23]. In the present work we study the algebraic semantics of this logic, namely μŁΠ algebras, from algebraic, model theoretic and computational standpoints. We provide a characterisation of free μŁΠ algebras as a family of particular functions from [0,1]n to [0,1]. We show that the first-order theory of linearly ordered μŁΠ algebras enjoys quantifier elimination, being, more precisely, the model completion of the theory of linearly ordered ŁΠ1/2 algebras. Furthermore, we give a functional representation of any ŁΠ1/2 algebra in the style of Di Nola Theorem for MV-algebras and finally we prove that the equational theory of μŁΠ algebras is in PSPACE.

Forcing in źukasiewicz Predicate Logic

In this paper we study the notion of forcing for Łukasiewicz predicate logic (Ł∀, for short), along the lines of Robinson’s forcing in classical model theory. We deal with both finite and infinite forcing. As regard to the former we prove a Generic Model Theorem for Ł∀, while for the latter, we study the generic and existentially complete standard models of Ł∀.

Continuous approximations of product implication in MV-algebras with product

Recently, MV-algebras with product have been investigated from different points of view. In particular, in [EGM01], a variety resulting from the combination of MV-algebras and product algebras (see [H98]) has been introduced. The elements of this variety are called ŁΠ-algebras. Even though the language of ŁΠ-algebras is strong enough to describe the main properties of product and of ukasiewicz connectives on [0,1], the discontinuity of product implication introduces some problems in the applications, because a small error in the data may cause a relevant error in the output. In this paper we try to overcome this difficulty, substituting the product implication by a continuous approximation of it. We investigate the resulting algebras, called ŁΠq-algebras, and we show that these algebras constitute a quasivariety which is generated by the class of all ŁΠq-algebras whose lattice reduct is the unit interval [0,1] with the usual order.

Representation of perfect and local MV-algebras

We describe representation theorems for local and perfect MV-algebras in terms of ultraproducts involving the unit interval [0, 1]. Furthermore, we give a representation of local Abelian ℓ-groups with strong unit as quasi-constant functions on an ultraproduct of the reals. All the above theorems are proved to have a uniform version, depending only on the cardinality of the algebra to be embedded, as well as a definable construction in ZFC.The paper contains both known and new results and provides a complete overview of representation theorems for such classes.

A discrete representation of free MV-algebras

We prove that the m -generated free MV-algebra is isomorphic to a quotient of the disjoint union of all the m -generated free MV(n)-algebras. Such a quotient can be seen as the direct limit of a system consisting of all free MV(n)-algebras and special maps between them as morphisms (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)