Gentzen's consistency proof

Gentzen's consistency proof is a result of proof theory in mathematical logic, published by Gerhard Gentzen in 1936. It shows that the Peano axioms of first-order arithmetic do not contain a contradiction (i.e. are "consistent"), as long as a certain other system used in the proof does not contain any contradictions either. This other system, today called "primitive recursive arithmetic with the additional principle of quantifier-free transfinite induction up to the ordinal ε₀", is neither weaker nor stronger than the system of Peano axioms. Gentzen argued that it avoids the questionable modes of inference contained in Peano arithmetic and that its consistency is therefore less controversial.

Gentzen theorem is concerned with first-order arithmetic: the theory of the natural numbers, including their addition and multiplication, axiomized by the first-order Peano axioms. This is a "first-order" theory: the quantifiers extend over natural numbers, but not over sets or functions of natural numbers. The theory is strong enough to describe recursively defined integer functions such as exponentiation, factorials or the Fibonacci sequence.

Gentzen showed that the consistency of the first-order Peano axioms is provable, over the base theory of primitive recursive arithmetic with the additional principle of quantifier-free transfinite induction up to the ordinal ε₀. Primitive recursive arithmetic is a much simplified form of arithmetic that is rather uncontroversial. The additional principle means, informally, that there is a well-ordering on the set of finite rooted trees. Formally, ε₀ is the first ordinal ${\displaystyle \alpha }$ such that ${\displaystyle \omega ^{\alpha }=\alpha }$, i.e. the limit of the sequence:

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