Consequence Relations

The publication of Rasiowa and Sikorski’s The Mathematics of Metamathematics (1970), Rasiowa’s An Algebraic Approach to Non-Classical Logics (1974), and Wójcicki’s Theory of Logical Calculi (1988) created a niche in the field of mathematical and philosophical logic. This in-depth study of the concept of a consequence relation, culminating in the concept of a Lindenbaum-Tarski algebra, fills this niche. Citkin and Muravitsky consider the problem of obtaining confirmation that a statement is a consequence of a set of statements as prerequisites, on the one hand, and the problem of demonstrating that such confirmation does not exist in the structure under consideration, on the other hand. For the second part of this problem, the concept of the Lindenbaum-Tarski algebra plays a key role, which becomes even more important when the considered consequence relation is placed in the context of decidability. This role is traced in the book for various formal objective languages.

The work also includes helpful exercises to aid the reader’s assimilation of the book’s material. Intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics and philosophy, this book can be used to teach special courses in logic with an emphasis on algebraic methods, for self-study, and also as a reference work.

Alex Citkin, CIO, Metropolitan Telecommunications, New York, Alexei Muravitsky, Professor of Mathematics, Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern State University of Louisiana

Dr Alex Citkin is the CIO of Metropolitan Telecommunications, New York. Before joining Metropolitan Telecommunications he was Director of Research and Development of EDI Corporation New York.

Dr Alexei Muravitsky is Professor of Mathematics at Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern State University of Louisiana. From 1980 to 1991 he was a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science of the Academy of Sciences of the Moldovan SSR and from 1992 to 1999 he was a Visiting Member at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University.