Ondřej Ježil - Prime Factorization in Models of PV$_1$

lmcs:15966 - Logical Methods in Computer Science, April 7, 2026, Volume 22, Issue 2 - https://doi.org/10.46298/lmcs-22(2:1)2026
Prime Factorization in Models of PV$_1$Article

Authors: Ondřej Ježil

Assuming that no family of polynomial-size Boolean circuits can factorize a constant fraction of all products of two $n$-bit primes, we show that the bounded arithmetic theory $\text{PV}_1$, even when augmented by the sharply bounded choice scheme $BB(Σ^b_0)$, cannot prove that every number has some prime divisor. By the completeness theorem, it follows that under this assumption there is a model $M$ of $\text{PV}_1$ that contains a nonstandard number $m$ which has no prime factorization.


Volume: Volume 22, Issue 2
Published on: April 7, 2026
Imported on: July 1, 2025
Keywords: Logic, Logic in Computer Science

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