Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

50%
+0 −0
#2: Post edited by user avatar Michael Hardy‭ · 2024-07-17T14:51:16Z (5 months ago)
  • The nonstandard models would be elementarily equivalent to the standard models, i.e. they would satisfy the same first-order formulas. In particular, for every first-order formula, the set of numbers satisfying it would have a least element.
  • However, for every number $x>0,$ the number $x-1$ exists. Thus for every nonstandard number $x$, the number $x-1$ exists. It is a nonstandard number. Hence there can be no minimal nonstandard number.
  • Hence we must conclude that the set of all nonstandard numbers cannot be defined by any first-order formula.
  • The nonstandard models would be elementarily equivalent to the standard models, i.e. they would satisfy the same first-order formulas. In particular, for every first-order formula with one free variable, the set of numbers satisfying it would have a least element.
  • However, for every number $x>0,$ the number $x-1$ exists. Thus for every nonstandard number $x$, the number $x-1$ exists. It is a nonstandard number. Hence there can be no minimal nonstandard number.
  • Hence we must conclude that the set of all nonstandard numbers cannot be defined by any first-order formula.
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Michael Hardy‭ · 2024-07-17T04:44:31Z (5 months ago)
The nonstandard models would be elementarily equivalent to the standard models, i.e. they would satisfy the same first-order formulas. In particular, for every first-order formula, the set of numbers satisfying it would have a least element.

However, for every number $x>0,$ the number $x-1$ exists. Thus for every nonstandard number $x$, the number $x-1$ exists. It is a nonstandard number. Hence there can be no minimal nonstandard number.

Hence we must conclude that the set of all nonstandard numbers cannot be defined by any first-order formula.