Sahlqvist Correspondence Theory for Second-Order Propositional Modal Logic

TL;DR

This paper develops a Sahlqvist correspondence theory for second-order propositional modal logic, extending existing modal logic results and providing an effective algorithm for first-order correspondents.

Contribution

It introduces the first Sahlqvist correspondence framework for SOPML, including a hierarchical class of formulas and an algorithm for computing their first-order frame conditions.

Findings

Sahlqvist formulas in SOPML have effective first-order correspondents.

Certain $\Pi_2$-rules correspond to $\Pi_2$-Sahlqvist formulas and first-order conditions.

Even simple SOPML Sahlqvist formulas can be non-canonical.

Abstract

Modal logic with propositional quantifiers (i.e. second-order propositional modal logic (SOPML)) has been considered since the early time of modal logic. Its expressive power and complexity are high, and its van-Benthem-Rosen theorem and Goldblatt-Thomason theorem have been proved by ten Cate (2006). However, the Sahlqvist theory of SOPML has not been considered in the literature. In the present paper, we fill in this gap. We develop the Sahlqvist correspondence theory for SOPML, which covers and properly extends existing Sahlqvist formulas in basic modal logic. We define the class of Sahlqvist formulas for SOMPL step by step in a hierarchical way, each formula of which is shown to have a first-order correspondent over Kripke frames effectively computable by an algorithm $ALBA^{SOMPL}$. In addition, we show that certain $\Pi_2$-rules correspond to $\Pi_2$-Sahlqvist formulas in SOMPL, which further correspond to first-order conditions, and that even for very simple SOMPL Sahlqvist formulas, they could already be non-canonical.