The finite controllability of the Maslov case

Abstract

In this paper we show the finite controllability of the Maslov class of formulas of pure quantification theory (specified immediately below). That is, we show that every formula in the class has a finite model if it has a model at all. A signed atomic formula is an atomic formula or the negation of one; a binary disjunction is a disjunction of the form A1 ⋁ A2, where A1 and A2 are signed atomic formulas; and a formula is Krom if it is a conjunction of binary disjunctions. Finally, a prenex formula is Maslov if its prefix is ∃···∃∀···∀∃···∃ and its matrix is Krom.A number of decidability results have been obtained for formulas classified along these lines. It is a consequence of Theorems 1.7 and 2.5 of [4] that the following are reduction classes (for satisfiability): the class of Skolem formulas, that is, prenex formulas with prefixes ∀···∀∃···∃, whose matrices are conjunctions one conjunct of which is a ternary disjunction and the rest of which are binary disjunctions; and the class of Skolem formulas containing identity whose matrices are Krom. Moreover, the following results (for pure quantification theory, that is, without identity) are derived in [1] and [2]: the classes of prenex formulas with Krom matrices and prefixes ∃∀∃∀, or prefixes ∀∃∃∀, or prefixes ∀∃∀∀ are all reduction classes, while formulas with Krom matrices and prefixes ∀∃∀ comprise a decidable class. The latter class, however, is not finitely controllable, for it contains formulas satisfiable only over infinite universes. The Maslov class was shown decidable by Maslov in [11].