Dependence Logic

Dependence is a common phenomenon, wherever one looks: ecological systems, astronomy, human history, stock markets - but what is the logic of dependence? This book is the first to carry out a systematic logical study of this important concept, giving on the way a precise mathematical treatment of Hintikka's independence friendly logic. Dependence logic adds the concept of dependence to first order logic. Here the syntax and semantics of dependence logic are studied, dependence logic is given an alternative game theoretic semantics, and results about its complexity are proven. This is a graduate textbook suitable for a special course in logic in mathematics, philosophy and computer science departments, and contains over 200 exercises, many of which have a full solution at the end of the book. It is also accessible to readers, with a basic knowledge of logic, interested in new phenomena in logic.

• The first book on the logic of dependence as well as the first to give a precise mathematical presentation of the independence friendly logic of Jaakko Hintikka
• Based on the novel idea of taking dependence as a basic notion, making it possible to give simple and exact proofs of the basic results of this area
• The text contains many examples and over 200 exercises, many with solutions provided at the end of the book