Degree theory, that is the study of the structure of the Turing degrees (or degrees of unsolvability) has been divided by Simpson [24; §5] into two parts—global and local. By the global theory he means the study of general structural properties of 3d— the degrees as a partially ordered set or uppersemilattice. The local theory concerns

A BSS machine is #-uniform if it does not use exact tests; such machines are equivalent (modulo parameters) to Type 2 Turing machines. We define a notion of closure related to Turing machines for archimedean fields, and show that such fields admit nontrivial #-uniformly decidable sets iff they are not Turing closed. Then, the partially ordered set of Turing closed fields is proved isomorphic to the ideal completion of unsolvability degrees. 1 Introduction In a previous paper [2], the authors have introduced a version of the BSS model of computability [1] in which exact tests are not allowed. Essentially, a BSS machine is #-uniform iff its halting set and computed function do not change when the test for equality with 0 is replaced with a test for membership to an arbitrary ball around 0. A set is #-uniformly semi-decidable iff it is the halting set of a #-uniform BSS machine; as it turns out, such sets are always open. There is a strict relation between #-uniform computability and r...

We prove that every countable jump upper semilattice can be embedded in D, where a jump upper semilattice (jusl) is an upper semilattice endowed with a strictly increasing and monotone unary operator that we call jump, and D is the jusl of Turing degrees. As a corollary we get that the existential theory of 〈D, ≤T, ∨, ′ 〉 is decidable. We also prove that this result is not true about jusls with 0, by proving that not every quantifier free 1-type of jusl with 0 is realized in D. On the other hand, we show that every quantifier free 1-type of jump partial ordering (jpo) with 0 is realized in D. Moreover, we show that if every quantifier free type, p(x1,..., xn), of jpo with 0, which contains the formula x1 ≤ 0 (m) &... & xn ≤ 0 (m) for some m, is realized in D, then every every quantifier free type of jpo with 0 is realized in D. We also study the question of whether every jusl with the c.p.p. and size κ ≤ 2 ℵ0 is embeddable in D. We show that for κ = 2 ℵ0 the answer is no, and that for κ = ℵ1 it is independent of ZFC. (It is true if MA(κ) holds.)

Decidability problems for (fragments of) the theory of the structure D of Turing degrees, form a wide and interesting class, much of which is yet unsolved. Lachlan showed in 1968 that the first order theory of D with the Turing reducibility relation is undecidable. Later results concerned the decidability (or undecidability) of fragments of this theory, and of other theories obtained by extending the language (e.g. with 0 or with the Turing jump operator). Proofs of these results often hinge on the ability to embed certain classes of structures (lattices, jump-hierarchies, etc.) in certain ways, into the structure of Turing degrees. The first part of the dissertation presents two results which concern embeddings onto initial segments of D with known double jumps, in other words a double jump inversion of certain degree structures onto initial segments. These results may prove to be useful tools in uncovering decidability results for (fragments of) the theory of the Turing degrees in languages containing the double jump operator. The second part of the dissertation relates to the problem of characterizing the Turing degrees which have a strong minimal cover, an issue first raised by Spector in 1956. Ishmukhametov solved the problem for the recursively enumerable degrees, by showing that those which have a strong minimal cover are exactly the r.e. weakly recursive degrees. Here we show that this characterization fails outside the r.e. degrees, and also construct a minimal degree below 0 ′ which is not weakly recursive, thereby answering a question from Ishmukhametov’s paper.

$1. Introduction. The occasion of a retiring presidential address seems like a time to look back, take stock and perhaps look ahead.

We describe the important role that the conjectures and questions posed at the end of the two editions of Gerald Sacks's Degrees of Unsolvability have had in the development of recursion theory over the past thirty years. Gerald Sacks has had a major influence on the development of logic, particularly recursion theory, over the past thirty years through his research, writing and teaching. Here, I would like to concentrate on just one instance of that influence that I feel has been of special significance to the study of the degrees of unsolvability in general and on my own work in particular--- the conjectures and questions posed at the end of the two editions of Sacks's first book, the classic monograph Degrees of Unsolvability (Annals

We prove that the two quantifier theory of the Turing degrees with order, join and jump is undecidable.

Abstract The three quantifier theory of (R; ^T), the recursively enumerable degrees under Turing reducibility, was proven undecidable by Lempp, Nies and Slaman [1998]. The two quantifier theory includes the lattice embedding problem and its decidability is a long standing open question. A negative solution to this problem seems out of reach of the standard methods of interpretation of theories because the language is relational. We prove the undecidability of a fragment of the theory of R that lies between the two and three quantifier theories with ^T but includes function symbols.

Gödel's work [Gö34] on undecidable theories and the subsequent formalisations of the notion of a recursive function ([Tu36], [K136] etc.) have led to an ever deepening understanding of the nature of the non-computable universe (which as Gödel himself showed, includes sets and functions of everyday significance). The nontrivial aspect of Church's Thesis (any function not contained within one of the equivalent definitions of recursive/Turing computable, cannot be considered to be effectively computable) still provides a basis not only for classical and generalised recursion theory, but also for contemporary theoretical computer science. Recent years, in parallel with the massive increase in interest in the computable universe and the development of much subtler concepts of 'practically computable', have seen remarkable progress with some of the most basic and challenging questions concerning the non-computable universe, results both of philosophical significance and of potentially wider technical importance. Relativising Church's Thesis, Kleene and Post [KP54] proposed the now

Abstract. The three quantifier theory of (R, ≤T), the recursively enumerable degrees under Turing reducibility, was proven undecidable by Lempp, Nies and Slaman (1998). The two quantifier theory includes the lattice embedding problem and its decidability is a long-standing open question. A negative solution to this problem seems out of reach of the standard methods of interpretation of theories because the language is relational. We prove the undecidability of a fragment of the theory of R that lies between the two and three quantifier theories with ≤T but includes function symbols. Theorem. The two quantifier theory of (R, ≤, ∨, ∧), the r.e. degrees with Turing reducibility, supremum and infimum (taken to be any total function extending the infimum relation on R) is undecidable. The same result holds for various lattices of ideals of R which are natural extensions of R preserving join and infimum when it exits. 1.