Axiomatic theory of betweenness (Q2219098)

This paper looks at set-betweenness from an axiomatic perspective. As one of several motivating examples presented by the authors, we have the notion of a subset $C$ of a metric space $\langle X,d\rangle$ being \textit{strictly between} two subsets $A$ and $B$-in symbols, $A|C|B$-if for each $a\in A$ and $b\in B$, there is a $c\in C\setminus\{a,b\}$ with $d(a,c)+d(c,b)=d(a,b)$. (This is a direct generalization of the notion of metric point-betweenness introduced by K.~Menger in the 1920s.) The principal focus of the paper is set-betweenness for simple graphs (with a possible loop at a vertex). Here $A|C|B$ holds if for each $a\in A$ and $b\in B$, and each edge path joining $a$ and $b$, there is an internal vertex of the path that belongs to $C$. The authors deliniate a quantifier-free first order language involving the ternary predicate $\cdot |\cdot |\cdot$ and constant symbols, a finite set of axioms in that language, and a straightforward semantics involving finite graphs. They than prove a soundness/completeness result for this system.