There is one and only one natural number $n$ for which the proposition formula $P(n)$ holds.
There are no integer solutions to the equations $x^2-y^2=11$
|
|
||||
|
|
|
(I think that you meant predicate logic, not propositional logic.) For (1) the trick is to do it in two parts: first specify that there’s at least one $n$ that works, and then specify that it’s the only $n$ that works. Thus, you want to start with the proposition $$\exists n\big(n\in\mathbb{N}\land P(n)\big)\;.$$ To say that there’s only one such $n$, you need to add a clause saying that every $m$ satisfying $P$ is equal to the specific one whose existence you just asserted: $$\exists n\bigg(n\in\mathbb{N}\land P(n)\land\forall m\Big(\big(m\in\mathbb{N}\land P(m)\big)\to m=n\Big)\bigg)\;.$$ In words this boils down to:
For (2), consider how you’d express the statement that there is at least one integer solution to the equation $x^2-y^2=11$; that would be $$\exists n \exists m(n\in\mathbb{N}\land m\in\mathbb{N}\land\dots)\;,\tag{1}$$ where I leave you to fill in the blank. The statement that you actually want says that $(1)$ is false; how do you modify $(1)$ to say that? (By the way, is (2) true, or false?) |
|||||||
|