Logic – Proving Inadequacy of a Set of Connectives

logic

It is relatively easy to prove that a given set of connectives is adequate. It suffices to show that the standard connectives can be built from the given set. It is proven that the set $\{\lor, \land, \neg\}$ is adequate, and from that set it can be inferred (applying De Morgan laws and such) that $\{\lor, \neg\}$, $\{\land, \neg\}$ and $\{\to, \neg\}$ are also adequate.

Nevertheless, I'm stuck trying to understand how to prove that a given set of connectives is inadequate. I know I have to prove that a standard connective can't be build using only the connectives of the given set, but I can't figure out how to do it.

FYI, I'm trying to prove that $\{\lor, \land\}$ and $\{\leftrightarrow, \neg\}$ are inadequate sets of connectives.

Thanks in advance.

Best Answer

There is a result in Robert Reckhow's thesis that characterizes the adequate sets of connectives. The result says that for a set of connectives to be complete one needs the following:

  • F and T (or formulas with these values),
  • an odd connective (a connective is called odd if some fixing of its input variables with T and F except two input variables has odd number of Ts in its truth table),
  • a non-monotone connective (a connective that turning an F to a T will make its value change from T to F).

These are necessary and sufficient conditions for a set of connectives to be adequate. If a set of connectives is not adequate then it lacks one of these. If you have an odd connective, you can fix the inputs with T and F to get either $\vee$ or $\wedge$. If you have a non-monotone connective, you can fix the inputs with T and F to get $\lnot$. Any boolean function can then be constructed from these as a CNF.

Note that even connectives are closed under composition as well as monotone connectives. So to prove that a set of connectives is inadequate, you typically need to show that either

  • all of the connectives are monotone, or
  • all of the connectives are even.

For your examples, the first one is a set of monotone connectives, the second one is a set of even connective. So they cannot be adequate.