Note on a problem of Paul Bernays
In this Journal, vol. 18 (1953), p. 350 (Problem 7), Prof. P. Bernays proposed the following problem on propositional calculus: What is the smallest number n such that the propositional calculus, formulated with substitution and modus ponens as the only rules of inference, can be based on a set of initial formulas each of which contains at most n propositional letters (counted with multiplicity) ? In this note I give a solution to this problem, viz., that this number n = 5. For a system of propositional calculus in which the primitive functors are “C” (implication) and “N” (negation) and in which there are only two rules of inference, i.e. the rules of substitution and detachment (modus ponens), the following can be proved. (1) A set of propositional theses each of which contains at most 4 propositional letters is inadequate to give the complete bi-valued calculus of propositions. (2) There are axiom systems for this calculus in which each axiom contains at most 5 propositional letters. § 1. Consider the following normal metrix, in which the designated value is I: This satisfies the two rules of inference, and the following. (a) The law of commutation, i.e. the thesis CCpCqrCqCpr. (b) The following theses: Furthermore, in this matrix “N” is defined in such a way that: (c) For any well-formed formula α and any value m of this matrix, α = m if and only if NNα = m.