A note on R\(\rightarrow\) matrices (Q791515)

This paper is one of a large number coming recently from the ANU Logic Group in the important area between logic, computing and algebra. An algebra is a matrix when it is equipped with a subset of designated elements. A matrix is characteristic for a logic when the class of theorems of the logic is exactly the class of wffs designated in every homomorphism from the logic to the matrix. Many of the most interesting logics do not have any finite characteristic matrix, so a computationally interesting project is to investigate finite matrices which approximate to the target logic. This paper proves that for any finite matrix in which all the theorems of the important relevant logic \(R_ i\) are designated but some wff A is undesignated, there is a theorem-preserving homomorphism to another finite matrix in which A's value remains undesignated but is maximal (in the sense that no undesignated value is greater than it). This shortens the task of finding \(R_ i\)-matrices for refuting selected nontheorems of \(R_ i\). The paper also investigates conditions under which the result can be generalized beyond \(R_ i\) (easy if the vocabulary is \(\to,\sim\); but not far if \&,\(\vee\) are added); and under which the condition of finitude can be relaxed. The exposition of the paper amounts, in addition, to a lucid and concise course in algebraic logic.