- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apal.2026.103740
Induction on dilators and Bachmann-Howard fixed points
- Jul 1, 2026
- Annals of Pure and Applied Logic
- Juan P Aguilera +2 more
One of the most important principles of J.-Y. Girard's Π 2 1 -logic is induction on dilators. In particular, Girard used this principle to construct his famous functor Λ. He claimed that the totality of Λ is equivalent to the set existence axiom of Π 1 1 -comprehension from reverse mathematics. While Girard provided a plausible description of a proof around 1980, it seems that the very technical details have not been worked out to this day. A few years ago, a loosely related approach led to an equivalence between Π 1 1 -comprehension and a certain Bachmann-Howard principle. The present paper closes the circle. We relate the Bachmann-Howard principle to induction on dilators. This allows us to show that Π 1 1 -comprehension is equivalent to the totality of a functor J due to P. Päppinghaus, which can be seen as a streamlined version of Λ.
