Actuality in propositional modal logic (Q2377050)

The aim of the paper is to show the redundancy of the actuality operator A in any propositional modal logic characterised by a class of Kripke models as well as by a class of neighborhood models. This is in contrast to the situation in quantified modal logics, where the actuality operator is not eliminable. This is a strengthening of results obtained by Crossley and Humberstone, and by Hazen for S5, as well as by Stephanou for weaker normal modal logics. The results in this paper are proved by semantical means for classes of models with distinguished `actual world'. It is shown that for every formula \(\varphi \) in the language with A, there is a formula \(\psi \) without A such that \(\varphi \) and \(\psi \) are materially equivalent at the actual world of every model in the respective class. From these semantical results the authors extract a simple way of axiomatizing the actuality extension of any normal and classical modal logic. In the appendix an alternative proof is provided of Williamson's result to the effect that the compound modality A\(\square\) behaves in any normal modal logic between T and S5 like ordinary \(\square\) in S5.