An Explicit Ordinal Bound for System T Dialogue Trees

📅 2026-09-17
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🤖 AI Summary
该研究通过计算自然数K(t)并证明h(D(t))<θ_K(t),直接证明了System T对话树的经典序数高度低于ε_0。
📝 Abstract
Escardó's dialogue interpretation assigns to each closed term $t:(ι\toι)\toι$ of Gödel's System~T a well-founded, countably branching tree $D(t)$, where $ι$ is the natural-number type. We give a direct proof that its classical ordinal height is below $ε_0$. More precisely, we compute a natural number $K(t)\ge2$ from the type levels occurring in the source term and prove $h(D(t))<θ_{K(t)}$, where $θ_0=ω$ and $θ_{n+1}=ω^{θ_n}$. Our proof translates recursors into closed infinitary templates and eliminates $β$-redexes by a finite sequence of passes indexed by ordinary type level. The translation and every pass preserve the dialogue denotation exactly. An auxiliary rank $ρ$ satisfies an additive substitution bound; each pass sends rank $α$ to at most $2^α$. Combining these estimates with a computable initial bound $ω+m(t)$ and a dialogue-height bound $2^{ρ(N)}$ for closed ground normal forms $N$ yields the stated tower bound. A semantics-preserving translation transfers the result to Escardó's original combinatory interpretation. We formalise the proof in Agda over classical ordinals under explicit foundational assumptions.
Problem

Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.

System T
dialogue trees
ordinal height
epsilon zero
Innovation

Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.

System T
ordinal bound
dialogue tree
infinitary templates
semantics-preserving translation
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