R. e. presented linear orders

Abstract

This paper looks at linear orders in the following way. A preordering is given, which is linear and recursively enumerable. By performing the natural identification, one obtains a linear order for which equality is not necessarily recursive. A format similar to Metakides and Nerode's [3] is used to study these linear orders. In effective studies of linear orders thus far, the law of antisymmetry (x ≦ y ∧ y ≦ x ⇒ y) has been assumed, so that if the order relation x ≦ y is r.e. then x < y is also r.e. Here the assumption is dropped, so that x < y may not be r.e. and the equality relation may not be recursive; the possibility that equality is not recursive leads to new twists which sometimes lead to negative results.Reported here are some interesting preliminary results with simple proofs, which are obtained if one looks at these objects with a view to doing recursion theory in the style of Metakides and Nerode. (This style, set in [3], is seen in many subsequent papers by Metakides and Nerode, Kalantari, Remmel, Retzlaff, Shore, and others, e.g. [1], [4], [6], [7], [8], [11]. In a sequel, further investigations will be reported which look at r.e. presented linear orders in this fashion and in the context of Rosenstein's comprehensive work [10].Obviously, only countable linear orders are under consideration here. For recursion-theoretic notation and terminology see Rogers [9].