A computably enumerable (c.e.) degree is a maximal contiguous degree if it is contiguous and no c.e. degree strictly above it is contiguous. We show that there are infinitely many maximal contiguous degrees. Since the contiguous degrees are definable, the class of maximal contiguous degrees provides the first example of a definable infinite anti-chain in the c.e. degrees. In addition, we show that the class of maximal contiguous degrees forms an automorphism base for the c.e. degrees and therefore for the (...) Turing degrees in general. Finally we note that the construction of a maximal contiguous degree can be modified to answer a question of Walk about the array computable degrees and a question of Li about isolated formulas. (shrink)

We investigate the algebraic structure of the upper semi-lattice formed by the recursively enumerable Turing degrees. The following strong generalization of Lachlan's Nonsplitting Theorem is proved: Given n ≥ 1, there exists an r.e. degree d such that the interval $\lbrack\mathbf{d, 0'}\rbrack \subset\mathbf{R}$ admits an embedding of the n-atom Boolean algebra B n preserving (least and) greatest element, but also such that there is no (n + 1)-tuple of pairwise incomparable r.e. degrees above d which pairwise join to 0' (and (...) hence, the interval $\lbrack\mathbf{d, 0'}\rbrack \subset\mathbf{R}$ does not admit a greatest-element-preserving embedding of any lattice L which has n + 1 co-atoms, including B n + 1 ). This theorem is the dual of a theorem of Ambos-Spies and Soare, and yields an alternative proof of their result that the theory of R has infinitely many one-types. (shrink)

Ambos-Spies, K. and R.A. Shore, Undecidability and 1-types in the recursively enumerable degrees, Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 63 3–37. We show that the theory of the partial ordering of recursively enumerable Turing degrees is undecidable and has uncountably many 1-types. In contrast to the original proof of the former which used a very complicated O''' argument our proof proceeds by a much simpler infinite injury argument. Moreover, it combines with the permitting technique to get similar results for any (...) ideal of the r.e. degrees. (shrink)

We show that the partial order of Σ0 3-sets under inclusion is elementarily definable with parameters in the semilattice of r.e. wtt-degrees. Using a result of E. Herrmann, we can deduce that this semilattice has an undecidable theory, thereby solving an open problem of P. Odifreddi.

We show that the theory of the partial ordering of the computably enumerable degrees in any given nontrivial interval is undecidable and has uncountably many 1-types.

The occasion of a retiring presidential address seems like a time to look back, take stock and perhaps look ahead.Institutionally, it was an honor to serve as President of the Association and I want to thank my teachers and predecessors for guidance and advice and my fellow officers and our publisher for their work and support. To all of the members who answered my calls to chair or serve on this or that committee, I offer my thanks as well. Your (...) work was both needed and appreciated.A major component of the efforts of the Association is devoted to our publications. My first important task as President was to deal with the need to reorganize the reviews section of the JSL and eventually to move it to the BSL. Appropriately enough, my first administrative job for the Association, some thirty years ago, was to serve on a committee to plan a reorganization of the reviews. I thank all those who helped with this transition and who took over the task of running the new reviews section. I hope that it will be another thirty years before further major changes are needed in this area and that someone else will be making them. (shrink)

We give a first-order coding without parameters of a copy of in the computably enumerable weak truth table degrees. As a tool, we develop a theory of parameter definable subsets.

Let [NB]₁ denote the ideal generated by nonbounding c.e. degrees and NCup the ideal of noncuppable c.e. degrees. We show that both [NB]₁ ∪ NCup and the ideal generated by nonbounding and noncuppable degrees are new, in the sense that they are different from M, [NB]₁ and NCup—the only three known definable ideals so far.