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concept1930s-present

Compactness Theorem

Disciplines:
logic
philosophy of mathematics

Summary

A fundamental theorem of first-order logic: a set of sentences has a model if and only if every finite subset of it has a model.

Core Contribution

Has significant philosophical implications: it entails that first-order logic cannot characterize the natural numbers up to isomorphism (non-standard models exist); it limits the expressive power of first-order logic in important ways.

Historical Influences

Kurt Gödel Leon A. Henkin

Intellectual Lineage

No conceptual lineage found.

Allied Works

Principia Mathematica Completeness Theorem

Contemporaries & Peers

No recorded contemporaries.

Minds Influenced

No recorded minds influenced.

Intellectual Posterity

No conceptual posterity found.

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Compactness Theorem

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