The Reduction Oriented Calculus mj
- The intuitionistic calculus mj for sequents, in which no other logical symbols than those for implication and universal quantification occur, is introduced and analysed. It allows a simple backward application, called mj-reduction here, for searching for derivation trees. Terms needed in mj-reduction can be found with the unification algorithm. mj-Reduction with unification can be seen as a natural extension of SLD-resolution. mj-Derivability of the sequents considered here coincides with derivability in Johansson's minimal intuitionistic calculus LHM in [6]. Intuitionistic derivability of formulae with negation and classical derivability of formulae with all usual logical symbols can be expressed with mj-derivability and hence be verified by mj-reduction. mj-Derivations can be easily translated into LJ-derivations without
"Schnitt", or into NJ-derivations in a slightly sharpened form of Prawitz' normal form. In the first three sections, the systematic use of mj-reduction for proving in predicate logic is emphasized. Although the fourth section, the last and largest, is exclusively devoted to the mathematical analysis of the calculus mj, the first three sections may be of interest to a wider readership, including readers looking for applications of symbolic logic. Unfortunately, the mathematical analysis of the calculus mj, as the study of Gentzen's calculi, demands a large amount of technical work that obscures the natural unfolding of the argumentation. To alleviate this, definitions and theorems are completely embedded in the text to provide a fluent and balanced mathematical discourse: new concepts are indicated with bold-face, proofs of assertions are outlined, or omitted when it is assumed that the reader can provide them.