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Positive first-order logic on words (2101.01968v6)
Published 6 Jan 2021 in cs.FL, cs.LO, and math.LO
Abstract: We study FO+, a fragment of first-order logic on finite words, where monadic predicates can only appear positively. We show that there is a FO-definable language that is monotone in monadic predicates but not definable in FO+. This provides a simple proof that Lyndon's preservation theorem fails on finite structures. We additionally show that given a regular language, it is undecidable whether it is definable in FO+.