Two simple sets that are not positively Borel (Q2488272)

This paper is concerned with the study of intuitionistic descriptive set theory, whose results and methods differ essentially from those of its classical counterpart. In classical descriptive set theory, one may prove, using the principle of \(\Sigma^1_1\)-Determinacy, that every (co-)analytic set that is not Borel is a complete element of the class of (co-)analytic sets. The paper's aim is to show that in intuitionistic descriptive set theory there exist, firstly, an analytic subset of Baire space \(\mathcal{N}\) that is not positively Borel and not a complete element of the class of analytic subsets of \(\mathcal{N}\) and, secondly, a co-analytic subset of \(\mathcal{N}\) that is not positively Borel and not a complete element of the class of co-analytic subsets of \(\mathcal{N}.\) The arguments make use of Brouwer's Continuity Principle (the principle of weak or local continuity for numbers).