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| − | A statement in formal logic is called undecidable if there is no proof or disproof of the statement in formal logic. A common misconception is that undecidable statements have no truth value, but this statement is not true. For example, many set theorists now believe that the [[continuum hypothesis]] (which is known to be undeciable in ZFC) is actually false. | + | A statement in formal [[logic]] is called '''undecidable''' if there is no [[proof]] or [[disproof]] of the statement in formal logic. A common misconception is that undecidable statements have no truth value, but this statement is not true. For example, many set theorists now believe that the [[continuum hypothesis]] (which is known to be undeciable in [[Zermelo-Fraenkel]] set theory) is actually false. |
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| − | As a more concrete example, suppose we had a "theory of colored shapes" <math>T</math> where the objects were colored shapes (red triangles, blue squares, etc), and the possible atomic sentences were of the form "shape <math>S</math> is a square." Since we do not have the language to state "shape <math>S</math> is red" then any statement of this form is undecidable in <math>T</math>, though it could be true or false in some larger theory <math>T'</math>. | + | As a more concrete example, suppose we had a "theory of colored shapes" <math>T</math> where the objects were colored shapes (red triangles, blue squares, etc), and the possible [[atom]]ic sentences were of the form "shape <math>S</math> is a square." Since we do not have the language to state "shape <math>S</math> is red" then any statement of this form is undecidable in <math>T</math>, though it could be true or false in some larger theory <math>T'</math>. |
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| | + | ==Famous Undecideable Statements== |
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| | + | * [[Axiom of Choice]] |
| | + | * [[Banach-Tarski paradox]] |
| | + | * [[Church-Turing thesis]] |
| | + | * [[Continuum hypothesis]] |
| | + | * Existence of large [[cardinal]]s |
| | + | * [[Halting problem]] |
| | + | * [[König's lemma]] |
| | + | * [[Lefschetz principle]] |
| | + | * [[Liar's paradox]] |
| | + | * [[Ramsey theory]] involving infinite sets |
| | + | * [[Russell's paradox]] |
| | + | * [[Zeno's paradox]] |
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| | + | [[category:logic]] |