Proof Theory 2016

This is the website for the course ``Proof Theory'' which will be offered at the University of Amsterdam in Fall 2016.

Exercise sheets and information about the contents of the lectures can be found here.
Homework sheets and information about grading can be found here.

Teaching staff

• Lecturer: Benno van den Berg
  Email: bennovdberg@gmail.com
  Room: ILLC, Science Park F2.43
• First teaching assistant: Giovanni Cina
  Email: giovanni.cina88@gmail.com
  Room: ILLC, Science Park F2.26
• Second teaching assistant: Anton Golov
  Email: a.m.golov@students.uu.nl

Practical details

Lectures and exercises classes will take place from week 44 till week 50. The first meeting will be the lecture on Monday 31 October. Week 51 is exam week and the exam will take place on December 19, 14:00-17:00 in SP F1.02.

There will be two lectures per week and these will take place on Mondays 13:00-15:00 in SP G5.29 and Thursdays 9:00-11:00 in SP D1.116.

In addition, there will be two exercises classes per week, one on Tuesday 15:00-17:00 in SP G3.10 and one on Thursday 11:00-13:00 in SP D.116. These exercise classes are an integral part of the course. On Tuesdays one works on an exercise sheet under the guidance of the teaching assistant (these sheets will appear here). In addition, there will be five homework sheets which influence your final grade for the course (more information about the homework can be found here). The exercise classes on Thursdays will be devoted to handing back and discussing the homework.

The weekly schedule is as follows:

• Monday: lecture from 13:00-15:00 in SP G5.29.
• Tuesday: exercise class from 15:00-17:00 in SP G3.10.
• Thursday: lecture from 9:00-11:00 in SP D1.116, followed by an exercise class from 11:00-13:00 also in SP D1.116.

However, in the first week there will no be no exercise class on Tuesday (1 November) and in the second week we will probably use the Thursday exercise class on 10 November for continuing the lecture.

Study materials

• Handouts.
• S.R. Buss, An Introduction to Proof Theory. Chapter 1 from Handbook of Proof Theory, edited by S.R. Buss. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1998. Available here.

Other sources:

• J.-Y. Girard. Proofs and Types. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989. Translated and with appendices by Paul Taylor and Yves Lafont. Available here.
• C. Smorynski, Hilbert's Programme. Appendix B in E. Menzler-Trott, Logic's Lost Genius: The Life of Gerhard Gentzen, History of Mathematics, volume 33. American Mathematicatical Society, Providence, RI; London Mathematical Society, London, 2007.
• A.S. Troelstra and H. Schwichtenberg. Basic Proof Theory. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000.

Prerequisites

Some background knowledge in logic and mathematical maturity is required, but nothing beyond what could reasonably be expected from a student of mathematics or logic at MSc level (for example, at the level of the ILLC's Basic Logic course).

To teaching page.