Scott analysis, linear orders and almost periodic functions
David Gonzalez, Matthew Harrison-Trainor, Meng-Che Ho · arXiv (Cornell University) · 2024
For any limit ordinal $λ$, we construct a linear order $L_λ$ whose Scott complexity is $Σ_{λ+1}$. This completes the classification of the possible Scott sentence complexities of linear orderings. Previously, there was only one known construction of any structure (of any signature) with Scott complexity $Σ_{λ+1}$, and our construction gives new examples, e.g., rigid structures, of this complexity. Moreover, we can construct the linear orders $L_λ$ so that not only does $L_λ$ have Scott complexity $Σ_{λ+1}$, but there are continuum-many structures $M \equiv_λL_λ$ and all such structures also have Scott complexity $Σ_{λ+1}$. In contrast, we demonstrate that there is no structure (of any signature) with Scott complexity $Π_{λ+1}$ that is only $λ$-equivalent to structures with Scott complexity $Π_{λ+1}$. Our construction is based on functions $f \colon \mathbb{Z}\to \mathbb{N}\cup \{\infty\}$ which are almost periodic but not periodic, such as those arising from shifts of the $p$-adic valuations.