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by pohl 5638 days ago
Is it Constructivism in mathematics that you would like more information about? If so, try this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_mathematics

Or are you looking for more about transforming a proof into a constructive one?

1 comments

I was wondering what subfield coined the label $\Pi_2$, specifically. I haven't looked much into the structure of propositions and proofs per se, and I'm curious about what can be said about it.
That is an excellent question. I've only seen capital pi used for repeated multiplication. I, too, would like to know what it means in this context.

I don't know if you missed it, but the author links to a PDF that mentions this notation in the abstract. I haven't had a chance to digest it, though:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~crary/819-f09/Murthy91.pdf

Edit: Behold...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descriptive_set_theory

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arithmetical_hierarchy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytical_hierarchy