Punctually Standard and Nonstandard Models of Natural Numbers

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Main Authors: Bazhenov, Nikolay, Georgiev, Ivan, Kalociński, Dariusz, Vatev, Stefan, Wrocławski, Michał
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Bazhenov, Nikolay
Georgiev, Ivan
Kalociński, Dariusz
Vatev, Stefan
Wrocławski, Michał
author_facet Bazhenov, Nikolay
Georgiev, Ivan
Kalociński, Dariusz
Vatev, Stefan
Wrocławski, Michał
contents Abstract models of computation often treat the successor function $S$ on $\mathbb{N}$ as a primitive operation, even though its low-level implementations correspond to non-trivial programs operating on specific numerical representations. This behaviour can be analyzed without referring to notations by replacing the standard interpretation $(\mathbb{N}, S)$ with an isomorphic copy ${\mathcal A} = (\mathbb{N}, S^{\mathcal A})$, in which $S^{\mathcal A}$ is no longer computable by a single instruction. While the class of computable functions on $\mathcal{A}$ is standard if $S^{\mathcal{A}}$ is computable, existing results indicate that this invariance fails at the level of primitive recursion. We investigate which sets of operations have the property that if they are primitive recursive on $\mathcal A$ then the class of primitive recursive functions on $\mathcal A$ remains standard. We call such sets of operations \emph{bases for punctual standardness}. We exhibit a series of non-basis results which show how the induced class of primitive recursive functions on $\mathcal A$ can deviate substantially from the standard one. In particular, we demonstrate that a wide range of natural operations, including large subclasses of primitive recursive functions studied by Skolem and Levitz, fail to form such bases. On the positive side, we exhibit natural finite bases for punctual standardness. Our results answer a question recently posed by Grabmayr and establish punctual categoricity for certain natural finitely generated structures.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_10589
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Punctually Standard and Nonstandard Models of Natural Numbers
Bazhenov, Nikolay
Georgiev, Ivan
Kalociński, Dariusz
Vatev, Stefan
Wrocławski, Michał
Logic
Computational Complexity
03D20 (Primary), 03C57 (Secondary)
F.1.1; F.4.1
Abstract models of computation often treat the successor function $S$ on $\mathbb{N}$ as a primitive operation, even though its low-level implementations correspond to non-trivial programs operating on specific numerical representations. This behaviour can be analyzed without referring to notations by replacing the standard interpretation $(\mathbb{N}, S)$ with an isomorphic copy ${\mathcal A} = (\mathbb{N}, S^{\mathcal A})$, in which $S^{\mathcal A}$ is no longer computable by a single instruction. While the class of computable functions on $\mathcal{A}$ is standard if $S^{\mathcal{A}}$ is computable, existing results indicate that this invariance fails at the level of primitive recursion. We investigate which sets of operations have the property that if they are primitive recursive on $\mathcal A$ then the class of primitive recursive functions on $\mathcal A$ remains standard. We call such sets of operations \emph{bases for punctual standardness}. We exhibit a series of non-basis results which show how the induced class of primitive recursive functions on $\mathcal A$ can deviate substantially from the standard one. In particular, we demonstrate that a wide range of natural operations, including large subclasses of primitive recursive functions studied by Skolem and Levitz, fail to form such bases. On the positive side, we exhibit natural finite bases for punctual standardness. Our results answer a question recently posed by Grabmayr and establish punctual categoricity for certain natural finitely generated structures.
title Punctually Standard and Nonstandard Models of Natural Numbers
topic Logic
Computational Complexity
03D20 (Primary), 03C57 (Secondary)
F.1.1; F.4.1
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.10589