On the validity of hilbert's nullstellensatz, artin's theorem, and related results in grothendieck toposes

Abstract

Using formally intuitionistic logic coupled with infinitary logic and the completeness theorem for coherent logic, we establish the validity, in Grothendieck toposes, of a number of well-known, classically valid theorems about fields and ordered fields. Classically, these theorems have proofs by contradiction and most involve higher order notions. Here, the theorems are each given a first-order formulation, and this form of the theorem is then deduced using coherent or formally intuitionistic logic. This immediately implies their validity in arbitrary Grothendieck toposes. The main idea throughout is to use coherent theories and, whenever possible, find coherent formulations of formulas which then allow us to call upon the completeness theorem of coherent logic. In one place, the positive model-completeness of the relevant theory is used to find the necessary coherent formulas.The theorems here deal with polynomials or rational functions (in s indeterminates) over fields. A polynomial over a field can, of course, be represented by a finite string of field elements, and a rational function can be represented by a pair of strings of field elements. We chose the approach whereby results on polynomial rings are reduced to results about the base field, because the theory of polynomial rings in s indeterminates over fields, although coherent, is less desirable from a model-theoretic point of view. Ultimately we are interested in the models.This research was originally motivated by the works of Saracino and Weispfenning [SW], van den Dries [Dr], and Bunge [Bu], each of whom generalized some theorems from algebraic geometry or ordered fields to (commutative, von Neumann) regular rings (with unity).