Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2002/iii/paper-76/5/iv/solution

There is an argument-order defect in the printed flip context: the discriminator constructed above takes its numeral first. Fix and use
Equivalently, define and write the context as . This is an explicit permutation of the discriminator arguments, not an assumption that has the required behavior.
Let be the self-quoting fixed point. There are exactly two cases. If , then , so closure under beta equivalence puts in and forces . If , then , forcing . Both contradict the distinct beta-normal Church numerals . Hence no such total binary lambda classifier exists.
If beta equivalence were decidable, its decision algorithm would give a total computable function that outputs one exactly on codes of terms beta-equivalent to , and zero on all other codes. Its numeral representation would be such a , taking to be the class of and its complement. Both are nonempty: has a different beta-normal form from . The contradiction proves beta equality is undecidable. It is nevertheless semidecidable, since finite conversion proofs can be effectively enumerated.

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