On Generalization of Definitional Equivalence to Languages with Non-Disjoint Signatures

Abstract: For simplicity, most of the literature introduces the concept of definitional equivalence only to languages with disjoint signatures. In a paper, Barrett and Halvorson introduce a straightforward generalization to languages with non-disjoint signatures and they show that their generalization is not equivalent to intertranslatability in general. In this paper, we show that their generalization is not transitive and hence it is not an equivalence relation. Then we introduce the Andr\'eka and N\'emeti generalization as one of the many equivalent formulations for languages with disjoint signatures. We show that the Andr\'eka-N\'emeti generalization is the smallest equivalence relation containing the Barrett-Halvorson generalization and it is equivalent to intertranslatability even for languages with non-disjoint signatures. Finally, we investigate which definitions for definitional equivalences remain equivalent when we generalize them for theories with non-disjoint signatures.