We prove that any variety of relation algebras which contains an algebra with infinitely many elements below the identity, or which contains the full group relation algebra on some infinite group (or on arbitrarily large finite groups), must have an undecidable equational theory. Then we construct an embedding of the lattice of all subsets of the natural numbers into the lattice of varieties of relation algebras such that the variety correlated with a set [italic capital]X of natural numbers has a decidable equational theory if and only if [italic capital]X is a decidable (i.e., recursive) set. Finally, we construct an example of an infinite, finitely generated, simple, representable relation algebra that has a decidable equational theory.'' -- Abstract.
The foundation of an algebraic theory of binary relations was laid by De Morgan, Peirce, and Schroder during the second half of the nineteenth century. Modern development of the subject as a theory of abstract algebras, called "relation algebras", was undertaken by Tarski and his students. This book aims to analyse the structure of relation algebras that are generated by relativized subalgebras. As examples of their potential for applications, the main results are used to establish representation theorems for classes of relation algebras and to prove existence and uniqueness theorems for simple closures (i.e., for minimal simple algebras containing a given family of relation algebras as relativized subalgebras). This book is well-written and accessible to those who are not specialists in this area. In particular, it contains two introductory chapters on the arithmetic and the algebraic theory of relation algebras. This book is suitable for use in graduate courses onalgebras of binary relations or algebraic logic.
Culminates nearly half a century of the late Alfred Tarski's foundational studies in logic, mathematics, and the philosophy of science. This work shows that set theory and number theory can be developed within the framework of a new, different and simple equational formalism, closely related to the formalism of the theory of relation algebras.
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