Some remarks about nonstandard methods in analysis. I

Abstract

This and forthcoming articles discuss two of the most known nonstandard methods of analysis---the Robinsons infinitesimal analysis and the Boolean valued analysis, the history of their origination, common features, differences, applications and prospects. This article contains a review of infinitesimal analysis and the original method of forcing. The presentation is intended for a reader who is familiar only with the most basic concepts of mathematical logic---the language of first-order predicate logic and its interpretations. It is also desirable to have some idea of the formal proofs and the Zermelo--Fraenkel axiomatics of the set theory. In presenting the infinitesimal analysis, special attention is paid to formalizing the sentences of ordinary mathematics in a first-order language for a superstructure. The presentation of the forcing method is preceded by a brief review of C.Godels result on the compatibility of the Axiom of Choice and the Continuum Hypothesis with Zermelo--Fraenkels axiomatics. The forthcoming article is devoted to Boolean valued models and to the Boolean valued analysis, with particular attention to the history of its origination.