The language of Gödel-Löb logic has propositional variables, , implication, and the unary operator ; the other logical connectives are abbreviations. Its axioms are all classical tautologies, the distribution scheme , and the Löb scheme . Its rules are modus ponens rule, necessitation rule of theorems, and uniform substitution.
For a single boxed equation , set . The identity supplied in the source gives directly . If does not occur, take instead.
Proceed by induction for a system of equations, allowing other propositional variables as parameters. Treat as parameters in the last equation and put
The one-variable result proves . Substitute this for in the first equations. They are still boxed equations, so induction supplies solutions . Define .
By construction, the first equations hold after this substitution; substituting into the theorem for proves the last. Hence
The elimination introduces no new parameter letters and removes every unknown letter. This gives a constructive simultaneous boxed fixed-point elimination in GL.
Syntax tree of a formula 2026-10-31
The syntax tree of a logical formula records its recursive construction. A propositional variable is a leaf, negation has one child, and binary implication has an ordered pair of children. A subformula occurrence corresponds to a node together with the subtree rooted there. Different occurrences may have identical formula strings.